Aljamain Sterling faces Kevin Vallejos in the UFC Qatar co-main, a fight he had one hour to accept
Aljamain Sterling has a new featherweight test. The former bantamweight champion, 37 and 26-5, faces Argentina’s Kevin Vallejos, 24 and 18-1, in the UFC Qatar co-main event on November 21 in Al Rayyan. Sterling says he had one hour to say yes. Vallejos, unbeaten in 4 UFC fights, knocked out Giga Chikadze and then Josh Emmett in under 4 months.
Full event coverage: UFC returns to Doha on November 21, a year after selling out its Qatar debut
Key takeaways
- Aljamain Sterling (26-5) faces Kevin Vallejos (18-1) at featherweight on November 21 at UFC Qatar, in the co-main to Jiří Procházka vs Navajo Stirling.
- Sterling, No. 4 at featherweight, has won 2 straight decisions, over Brian Ortega in August 2025 and Youssef Zalal in April.
- Vallejos, 24, is 4-0 in the UFC since the 2024 Contender Series, with a knockout of Giga Chikadze in December and a TKO of Josh Emmett in 3:33 in March.
Aljamain Sterling vs Kevin Vallejos, the former champion against the prospect
An offer with a one hour deadline
Sterling told Yahoo Sports he was given one hour to accept, just after getting off the mats, with no time to talk it over with his team. He said yes.
Pico turned down earlier
Earlier, he had declined a fight with Aaron Pico at UFC 333, feeling an opponent at 1-1 in the UFC did nothing for him. He preferred Vallejos, who has been around longer and, in his view, beaten better opponents.
Co-main of a big card
The fight goes right before Procházka vs Stirling, on a card that also features Dan Hooker vs Brian Ortega and Asu Almabayev vs Kyoji Horiguchi.
Aljamain Sterling's featherweight run
3 bantamweight defenses
Crowned in March 2021 against Petr Yan, Sterling defended his bantamweight title 3 times, against Yan, T.J. Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo, before losing it to Sean O’Malley in August 2023.
3-1 since moving up
At featherweight he beat Calvin Kattar at UFC 300, lost a decision to Movsar Evloev in December 2024, then beat Brian Ortega and Youssef Zalal.
The clock is ticking
At 37, Sterling is chasing a featherweight title shot. A loss to a 24-year-old would push that goal far away.
I was told I had an hour to give an answer, and I had just gotten off the mats.
Kevin Vallejos, 18-1 and a run of knockouts
From Mar del Plata to the UFC
Born in December 2001 in Mar del Plata, Argentina, Vallejos earned his contract on the Contender Series in 2024. He is unbeaten in 4 UFC fights.
Chikadze and Emmett down
On December 13, 2025, he became the 1st man to knock out Giga Chikadze. On March 14, 2026, he stopped Josh Emmett at 3:33 of round 1.
Follow the fight
Sterling’s and Vallejos’ records and our weekly featherweight rating are in the FightHub app, with the result as soon as the fight ends.
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- Contender Series week 7: 6 UFC contracts, 2 for fighters who lost, none for the main event winner
