Aljamain Sterling defeated Youssef Zalal by unanimous decision with all three judges scoring the bout 49-45. Sterling outlanded Zalal 230 to 60 in total strikes and secured six takedowns to none while controlling 10:37 of cage time compared to Zalal's 3:48. Sterling gave away the third round but won the fourth 10-8. This marks Sterling's second consecutive victory and improves his featherweight record to 3-1, while Zalal's eight-fight winning streak, including five in the UFC, comes to an end.
Aljamain Sterling delivered a dominant performance at featherweight on April 26, 2026, defeating Youssef Zalal by unanimous decision, with all three judges returning identical 49-45 scorecards.
Sterling, known as "Funk Master," controlled nearly every phase of the contest, outlanding Zalal 230 strikes to 60 and securing six takedowns while his opponent managed none. Sterling held cage control for 10 minutes and 37 seconds compared to Zalal's 3 minutes and 48 seconds. The one blemish on an otherwise one-sided outing was the third round, which Sterling surrendered, though he responded by taking the fourth round on a 10-8 score. The victory is Sterling's second in a row at featherweight, lifting his record in the division to 3-1 and his overall professional mark to 26-5. The 36-year-old out of Serra-Longo Fight Team currently sits ranked fourth in the featherweight division. He carries a striking accuracy of 52 percent and lands 4.45 significant strikes per minute, complementing a steady takedown rate of 2.45 per 15 minutes.
Zalal, nicknamed "The Moroccan Devil," entered the fight ranked 12th in the division and had built genuine momentum with eight consecutive victories, five of them inside the UFC. The 29-year-old, who trains out of Factory X, now sits at 18-6-1. Fighting out of a switch stance and standing five-foot-ten with a 72-inch reach, Zalal had posted a takedown rate of 2.17 per 15 minutes and 1.4 submission attempts per 15 minutes coming in, but he was unable to generate any grappling offense on the night.
Why it matters
- Sterling's fourth-place ranking makes him a credible title contender at 145 pounds, and back-to-back wins strengthen that case significantly.
- Zalal's first UFC losing streak in years could push him down the divisional ladder from his current 12th-place ranking.
- The striking volume gap — 230 to 60 — highlights Sterling's ability to set pace and volume, a difficult stylistic problem for opponents at featherweight.
