Some eyebrows were raised when TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter reported that sources had informed him a fight between Aljamain Sterling and Cory Sandhagen had been targeted to fight at UFC Fight Night 175 in May, not least from the ‘Funk Master’ himself.
“We’ve spoken about a few different opponents,” Sterling said on Twitter. “As far as I know there is no fight announcement. Especially with all this chaos happening.
“I don’t even have access to my gym anymore. It’s been a complete ban for everyone and you guys think I’m taking a fight? Yea, ok.”
It is worth noting that Dana White did just say yesterday that he is hoping to resume the UFC’s full schedule mid-way through April, so it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that it was their intention to book this fight.
However, Sterling’s post does highlight some of the issues with this since if the UFC does manage to somehow put on some events in the weeks ahead, there’s no guarantee that fighters will want or be able to do so, and without having access to gyms during the shutdown they won’t be in fighting shape.
Of course some fighters are more than happy to take fights on short notice, but those like Sterling who are on the verge of title contention (currently ranked No.2 at bantamweight) may have second thoughts about accepting a fight without a full camp.
