{"id":37972,"date":"2026-04-28T16:06:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T16:06:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Aljamain-Sterling-believes-Youssef-Zalal-was-overconfident-ahead-of-their-fight-200996"},"modified":"2026-04-28T16:06:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T16:06:46","slug":"aljamain-sterling-believes-youssef-zalal-was-overconfident-ahead-of-their-fight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/aljamain-sterling-believes-youssef-zalal-was-overconfident-ahead-of-their-fight\/","title":{"rendered":"Aljamain Sterling believes Youssef Zalal was overconfident ahead of their fight"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Aljamain
\nSterling<\/a> thinks Youssef
\nZalal<\/a> was almost looking past him. <\/p>\n

Zalal faced Sterling in the first
\nUFC<\/a> main event of his career last weekend at the Apex in Las
\nVegas. Despite Sterling being a former bantamweight champion, Zalal
\nwas a favorite going into the fight. However, Sterling thoroughly
\ndominated Zalal on the ground, even landing the more damaging
\nstrikes on the feet, to earn a unanimous decision win. <\/p>\n

\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

For Sterling, Zalal\u2019s confidence almost bordered on cockiness
\nduring fight week. Sterling believes Zalal felt that it was his
\ntime and started counting his chickens before they hatched. Despite
\nhaving trained together in the past, Sterling thinks Zalal forgot
\nwhat went down in the gym.<\/p>\n

The Wrong Aura<\/h2>\n

\u201cHe had an aura about him \u2013 I didn\u2019t know if it was cockiness or
\nconfidence,\u201d Sterling said on his YouTube<\/a> channel. \u201cIt\u2019s always a very fine line
\nwith that\u2026 It almost felt like he was looking past me\u2026 He almost
\nfelt like it was his time, and he was counting his chickens before
\nthey hatched. I think that was his mistake. I think he looked past
\nwhat he actually dealt with in the training room and my past few
\nperformances. I think he just came in a little
\noverconfident.\u201d <\/p>\n

While Zalal\u2019s (18-6) forgettable first stint in the UFC ended in
\n2022, he made his way back to the promotion with three straight
\nfirst-round finishes on the regional circuit. \u201cThe Moroccan Devil\u201d
\ncontinued his success in his second UFC stint, earning five
\nstraight victories before falling against Sterling. Meanwhile,
\nSterling (26-5) has defeated Calvin
\nKattar<\/a>, Brian
\nOrtega<\/a>, and Zalal, while only losing to top contender Movsar
\nEvloev<\/a> since moving up to featherweight in 2024. <\/p>\n