Are these two champions truly satisfied with their prelims placement at UFC 310?
The year-end pay-per-view event is about to unfold, and some former UFC icons believe Aljamain Sterling and Chris Weidman are not thrilled about being relegated to the undercard. Matt Brown, in a recent episode of MMAFighting’s “The Fighter vs. The Writer”, believes both men have been handed a demotion, feeling their place on the card hasn’t earned them the recognition they deserve.
“The biggest difference is when you’re on the main card, there’s more crowd there and that’s what we all want,” Brown said. “We all want to be in front of more people, a louder crowd. I’m guessing every other fighter does … I feel way more comfortable in front of the biggest crowd than kind of scattered, empty seats and people kind of cheering and going to get their beers and getting settled in, people walking in as you’re fighting, things like that.
“Especially when you’ve got a guy like Chris Weidman, who’s a former champion. Aljamain Sterling, who’s a former champion. They feel like they’re demoted. I guarantee. I feel that way when I’d get put on the prelims. Like I’m demoted, like you don’t care about me as much. Like you think I’m on my way out. You’re not moving me up the card towards the main event. That’s where we all want to be.”
While Weidman faces Eryk Anders in a rescheduled bout from earlier this year, Sterling clashes with Movsar Evloev in a crucial featherweight matchup. Despite being the betting underdog, Sterling’s fight is one of the most anticipated on the card.
As for Weidman, his fight with Anders has been postponed twice but will finally take place at UFC 310. It was initially scheduled for November but had to be rescheduled because of Anders’ illness.