Aljamain Sterling says UFC 306 fight vs. Diego Lopes at Sphere 'has a nice ring to it'

Aljamain Sterling has turned his attention to Diego Lopes.

Sterling (24-4 MMA, 16-4 UFC) initially was angling for Movsar Evloev, but their fight has yet to materialize. Now the newly minted featherweight called out Lopes, who’s coming off a unanimous decision win over Dan Ige at UFC 303.

Former bantamweight champion Sterling dominated Calvin Kattar in his featherweight debut in April. He wants the red-hot Lopes (25-6 MMA, 4-1 UFC) at UFC 306 at the Sphere.

“I’m thinking about Aljamain Sterling vs. Diego Lopes at the Sphere,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “It has a nice ring to it. Movsar, I don’t know what the hell he’s doing. I gave him a date and he hasn’t accepted yet – he started making all these excuses. Either you fight on my terms or I fight somebody else. So Diego Lopes, if you oblige, let’s make it happen at the Sphere, Sept. 14.”

Lopes currently has other ideas. After defeating Ige, Lopes called for his previously scheduled matchup with Brian Ortega to be rebooked or former featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski.

Even Evloev (18-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) has pivoted to Lopes. The undefeated contender, who handed Lopes the lone loss of his octagon career, recently traded barbs with Lopes. He said he’d be open to running things back, but Lopes dismissed him.