Undefeated Sterling fighting for the spotlight

The 26-year-old proved Tuesday he’s willing to force the message on anyone not ready to listen.

With his fight against Johnny Eduardo scheduled for the preliminary card of UFC Fight Night 180 at The Cosmopolitan on Thursday night, Sterling was not one of the six fighters scheduled for the open media workouts on Tuesday afternoon on the casino floor at the MGM Grand.

Sterling, a Long Island, N.Y. native who trains with middleweight champion Chris Weidman, took matters into his own hands.

“I told (UFC officials) I was going to crash the open workouts. I asked where exactly it was going to be at and I was just going to show up and do my own workout,” he said. “But then they actually invited me and said they would be more than happy to have me here.”

Sterling had multiple reasons for wanting to be at the event, which was heavily covered with three UFC cards in Las Vegas this week, including Saturday night’s UFC 194 mega-card at MGM Grand.

“I feel like after this fight I’m going to be at a different level so I want to start getting more comfortable with the cameras in my face and start preparing myself for doing all this media stuff,” he said. “I feel doing something like this will help me and I think it’s fun. It’s something a lot of guys don’t enjoy as much as they should. You can only fight for so long so I just want to be in the moment and enjoy my time here and take advantage of every single second.”

Sterling also is entering the final fight on his UFC contract. He said UFC officials reached out to his management team a few weeks ago, but no new deal was reached.

He’s banking on another breakout performance on Thursday greatly increasing his value on the open market.

“I feel like I have a lot more in terms of my value and I want more for myself,” he said. “I’m just going to say that. I want more for myself. I think that’s the best way to put it. I think a lot of these guys need to want more for themselves. I came into the sport to make a ton of money, make a name for myself and leave a legacy, hopefully retire undefeated and win a UFC belt along the way.”

Sterling has won all 11 of his professional fights, including three straight since signing with the UFC. He had a successful collegiate wrestling career and has an impressive pedigree. He began the sport with college classmate Jon Jones, the former UFC light heavyweight champ, before hooking up with Weidman’s camp where he works with Ray Longo and former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra.

He believes it’s just a matter of time before he’s off preliminary cards and in the spotlight.

“I’m not sure what it is (that’s held me back), but I think it’s going to stop after this fight,” he said. “Just them having me here says a lot. I think after this fight good things are going to happen. I just need to go out and get my hand raised and do it in spectacular fashion.”

Weidman will be in action on Saturday when he defends his middleweight belt against Luke Rockhold at UFC 194.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj