Fighting Alexander Volkanovski, according to Aljamain Sterling, would be like going up against Henry Cejudo.

UFC 290 took place this past weekend (July 8, 2023) and Aljamain Sterling thought Alexander Volkanovski did a great job defending his championship.

The third round technical knockout victory over Yair Rodriguez marked Volkanovski's fifth defence of his UFC Featherweight title. Volkanovski briefly moved up to Lightweight to win that division's championship before meeting Rodriguez. Unfortunately for "The Great," Islam Makhachev, the 155-pound champion, rejected him via unanimous decision (see highlights).

Volkanovski is still hoping for a rematch with Makhachev, but when that might happen is anyone's guess. Ilia Topuria's ascent to prominence at Featherweight makes him a potential future opponent. However, "Funkmaster" aims to challenge the Australian icon if Sterling is successful in defending his Bantamweight title against Sean O'Malley at UFC 292 on August 19, 2023.

On his YouTube account, Sterling said “I would love to get that challenge before he would hang it up and be all said and done " . “I missed the opportunity to fight Jose Aldo. I’ve been trying to fight some of these guys who are considered the greatest or the biggest names. Petr Yan, Cory Sandhagen, T.J. Dillashaw, Henry Cejudo, now fighting Sean, who’s gonna be kind of like my Conor McGregor moment. Then to have an opportunity to fight Volkanovski would be like a real legacy-defining moment for my career. I would even say for him, too.”

Sterling, who is 33, hasn't fought since May 2023, when he beat Cejudo in a split decision to defend his title for the third time in a row. Cejudo didn't make it easy for Sterling, even though he had been away for three years. He is known for having a high fight IQ and a great background in wrestling at the Olympic level.