Sterling and Zalal officially weigh in for UFC Vegas 116 main event

Aljamain Sterling and Youssef Zalal both cleared the scales without issue ahead of their featherweight main event at UFC Vegas 116, with the bout now officially confirmed to proceed as scheduled. Sterling came in at 66.22 kg and Zalal hit an even 66 kg, keeping the headliner intact.

Sterling, nicknamed "Funk Master," enters the fight ranked fourth in the featherweight division with a professional record of 26-5-0. The 36-year-old New Yorker trains out of Serra-Longo Fight Team and stands five-foot-seven with a 71-inch reach. Fighting out of an orthodox stance, he lands 4.45 significant strikes per minute at a 52 percent accuracy rate and averages 2.45 takedowns per 15 minutes, making him a genuinely well-rounded threat on the feet and on the mat.

Zalal, known as "The Moroccan Devil," holds a record of 18-6-1 and sits at number 12 in the featherweight rankings. The 29-year-old, who trains at Factory X, is a switch-stance fighter standing five-foot-ten with a 72-inch reach. He averages 3.03 significant strikes per minute at 50 percent accuracy and adds 2.17 takedowns per 15 minutes, along with a notably active submission game at 1.4 attempts per 15 minutes.

Why it matters

• Sterling's fourth-place ranking means a strong performance could push him closer to title contention in the featherweight division
• Zalal, ranked 12th, has a significant opportunity to vault up the rankings with a win over a high-profile former champion
• The stylistic matchup pits Sterling's volume striking and grappling precision against Zalal's longer reach, switch-stance versatility, and active submission threat
• Both fighters cleared weight cleanly, removing any uncertainty around the fight's status as the card's headliner