The Ultimate Fighting Championship has begun preparations for its event in Salt Lake City.
The first bout of UFC 307 has been set, with Movsar Evloev (18-0) facing Aljamain Sterling (24-4) in a key featherweight bout. The two have been hinting at the bout happening for the last month, but French social media account MMA Propagande first reported the matchup on Wednesday. Sterling confirmed the bout on social media on Friday. The card is set to take place on October 5 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, with Ilia Topuria vs. Max Holloway in the double championship main event, and Raquel Pennington vs. Julianna Peña rumored to be the co-headline.
Evloev has never tasted defeat as a professional, having made eight appearances in the Octagon since his debut in 2019. The Russian boxer has gone the full round in eight consecutive bouts, with the majority of his career wins coming by decision. Currently training with America Top Team, Evloev is celebrating recent wins over Arnold Allen and Diego Lopez, the latter of which Lopez joined on short notice. With seven wins at 145 pounds, Evloev is already in the top five in the featherweight division for most decision wins.
A former bantamweight champion, Sterling jumped into the 145-pound Shark Tank after losing his belt to Sean O’Malley in August 2023. “Arjo” made his debut in his new weight class by dominating Calvin Kattar at UFC 300, scoring a whopping eight takedowns from “The Boston Finisher” to earn a clear decision victory. Prior to getting beaten badly by O’Malley, Sterling was on a nine-fight win streak, including two wins over big names like Henry Cejudo, TJ Dillashaw and Petr Yan.
