Sterling pulls out of UFC 307 because of injury

Aljamain Sterling has pulled out of his UFC 307 featherweight fight with Movsar Evloev due to an injury.

The former bantamweight champion was slated to compete for a second time as a featherweight after dropping his 135-pound title to Sean O’Malley in August 2023. Sterling took to his YouTube channel to explain what happened.

“In sparring I had an injury,” Sterling said in the video that also showed footage of the shoulder injury. “I did stem cells. I took time off. I tried to rehab it as much as I could and as best I could with the [UFC Performance Institute]. Unfortunately, it’s out of my hands now.”

Sterling is currently ranked as the No. 9 featherweight by the UFC following his successful debut at 145 pounds at UFC 300 over Calvin Kattar. He was set to face the undefeated Evloev on Oct. 5. Although injured, Sterling revealed that his shoulder will not require surgery and he is hoping that a fight with Evloev will be rescheduled for December.

Ranked as the No. 6 featherweight by the UFC, Evloev hasn’t fought since January when he defeated Arnold Allen by decision. He also holds victories over surging featherweight Diego Lopes and Dan Ige.