Aljamain Sterling reacts to video of him sparring with Alexander Volkanovski ahead of latter's rumored rematch with Ilia Topuria

A video of Alexander Volkanovski and Aljamain Sterling training together recently appeared online, suggesting the two are developing a new bond. Subsequently, Sterling showed his respect for the former featherweight champion on social media.

Volkanovski will look to get back into the win column after suffering back-to-back defeats in the promotion. Many reports suggest that the 36-year-old will get the opportunity to reclaim his featherweight title in a rematch against Ilia Topuria on the Miami card in April.

Ahead of his rumored return, 'The Great' sparred with Sterling in Thailand, and their training clip was uploaded on X by combat sports news outlet Championship Rounds. The former bantamweight champion reposted it by expressing his admiration for Volkanovski, writing:

''Such a great experience working with the champ. And a great dude as well out of the training room''

Check out the post below:

After two unsuccessful attempts at capturing the lightweight title against Islam Makhachev, Volkanovski returned to his division to defend his 145-pound belt against Topuria in the main event of UFC 298 last year.

The Spaniard, who came into the fight full of confidence, defied expectations by knocking out the Australian with a devastating right hook in the second round to become the new champion.

The two recently met backstage at UFC 312 as Volkanovski and Topuria were the cornermen for Colby Thicknesse and Aleksandre Topuria, respectively. During their interaction, Volkanovski hugged 'El Matador', and invited him to his cooking show, urging him to bring wine.

''We still gotta do the Cookin’ With Volk! You bring the wine''

Check out the post below:

As for Sterling, following his bantamweight title loss to Sean O'Malley at UFC 292, he moved up to featherweight and secured a unanimous decision over Calvin Kattar at UFC 300. In his recent octagon outing at UFC 310, 'Funk Master' suffered a unanimous decision loss against undefeated contender Movsar Evloev.

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Alexander Volkanovski will not stand in the way if UFC decides to book Ilia Topuria against Islam Makhachev

Alexander Volkanovski has repeatedly expressed his desire for a title rematch against Ilia Topuria. However, Topuria is focused on challenging Islam Makhachev for the lightweight title.

In an interview with Mainevent, Volkanovski indicated that he has no objections to Topuria stepping up to face Makhachev. However, if that is not the case, Volkanovski feels that the promotion should immediately book him against the reigning featherweight champion:

''I don't want to get in the way of someone's [title dream]. I obviously want that [Topuria] fight. It's gonna suck, because I'd love that. If the UFC want [Makhachev vs. Topuria], and [Topuria] is pushing for it and they can make that happen, then alright. Good on them. But if they can't make it happen, let's not waste time and let's lock our fight in. That's sort of how it is. But if they can make it happen, sweet.''

Check out Alexander Volkanovski's comments below (4:56):