Preview: UFC Vegas 116 ‘Sterling vs. Zalal’

The latest weekly offering from the Ultimate Fighting Championship may be little more than a palate cleanser between main courses, but it’s a surprisingly strong card—at the top, at least. Scheduled right between the UFC’s first trips to Canada and Australia this year—and a run of 13 straight weekly events, for those counting—there’s no question that UFC Vegas 116 suffers from its proximity to so many higher-profile show. Still, the best-case scenario for an Apex fight night in the 2020s is enough divisional relevance to make the blood, sweat and tears count for something, and this one checks that box emphatically, as it’s well within the realm of possibility that the main and co-main events both result in title shots for the winners.

Let us get on to the preview for the six-fight main card of UFC Fight Night 274 “Sterling vs. Zalal,” also known as UFC Vegas 116: Featherweights Aljamain Sterling vs. Youssef Zalal BETTING ODDS: Zalal (-160); Sterling (+135) In the main event, former bantamweight champ Sterling (25-5; 17-5 UFC) seeks to reaffirm his presence in the title picture of his new division, while halting the rise of the resurgent Zalal.

Sterling is 2-1 since moving up to 145 pounds, with the lone loss coming in a competitive scrap against undefeated Movsar Evloev , so it isn’t as if he’s fallen off the face of the planet. However, considering his weirdly edgy relationship with the promotion, not to mention his 37th birthday looming this summer, there’s a sense that this is a must-win fight, that a loss here would send him too far back in line. “The Funk Master” delivers a unique and underappreciated mix of physical gifts and elite skills.

While he is a good athlete, his physicality manifests itself in balance, flexibiility and fluidity rather than explosive movement—think Phil Davis or B. J. Penn , not Jose Aldo or Michael Chandler .