Jean Silva was pretty quick to enter the featherweight rankings and stand tall as the #11 contender. The Brazilian has fought 5 bouts in the UFC and won all of them via knockouts. And his last win over Bryce Mitchell put him on the target board for the rest of the division. However, not everyone wants to go up against the Fighting Nerds featherweight. And Aljamain Sterling was definitely not ready to do so.
During Sterling’s recent appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, the famed MMA reporter spoke about the noise Silva has been creating in the division, and the former bantamweight champion had nothing but good things to say about the Brazilian. He claimed, “Oh yeah, he’s tough.” But is he tough enough for Sterling to book a bout against him? Well, it turns out—yes.
Sterling continued, “ I told his coach after he won against Bryce, I saw him in the back room and said, ‘Just tell him not to call me out… tell Jean not to call me.’ I was like, I like this guy, I don’t want to fight him right now. I could fight him, I just don’t want to fight him right now. Like, I’m on a different trajectory right now.”
‘Funk Master’ added, “I want to do something different. He’s on a different trajectory. He was like, ‘You do your thing, I do my thing. And eventually, we will meet up.’ For right now, like, I don’t want those problems right now. And I’m just being honest, that’s a tough cat to fight right now.’”
“I can fight him, but for right now, I don’t want those problems. I’m just being honest. That’s a tough cat to fight right now.”
Aljamain Sterling on a potential matchup with Jean Silva. pic.twitter.com/qnmUf5XWO9
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) June 11, 2025
And it seems like the right call for the former bantamweight champion. Of course, Silva desires to rise to the top of the division as soon as possible. And getting to fight Sterling, who’s currently sitting at the 9th spot in the rankings, would certainly propel him forward. But the Fighting Nerd has seemingly painted the target on someone else.
Jean Silva sidelines Aljamain Sterling for former featherweight title challenger
Taking to his YouTube channel, ‘Lord’ opened up on his future in the featherweight division. And that’s when he weighed in on the possibility of fighting Diego Lopes. He said, “So, I saw everyone talking about this fight—if this rumored fight is going to happen. I want to make it clear that this fight, this offer, did not come to ‘Lord’. I did not receive it. Of course, I think it’s a great fight for my game. I think it’s perfect. I study [Diego’s] game a lot, and I think it’s a great fight for me to get the belt later.”
Silva pointed out that Movsar Evloev is set to fight Aaron Pico, while Alexander Volkanovski is rumored to fight Yair Rodriguez. This means that the only viable option for the Fighting Nerd member at the top of the division is none other than Lopes. He continued, “And then it’s just me and Diego, you know? That’s what I think the UFC might do. I’m not sure, but in my opinion, I think that’s what makes sense right now.”
Even if things don’t work out between Silva and Lopes, he can still continue to rise in the rankings. That’s because a fight between Silva and Sterling might be the next big thing in the featherweight category. But while Silva is on an 11-fight win streak, Sterling lost his last bout against Evloev. And ‘Funk Master’ seemingly wants to get stronger before tackling the rising featherweight star.
Who do you think would be the best opponent for Silva and Sterling? Do you think the duo would make a good matchup? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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