Aljamain Sterling has gone from standout Division III wrestler in upstate New York to world champion in a decade. But his quest is not yet complete heading into UFC 273.
It’s been over a decade since Aljamain Sterling began his quest for greatness. The current UFC bantamweight champion took his first amateur fight while he was a Division III All-American wrestler at SUNY Cortland and never looked back.
The work he put in culminated at UFC 259, when he finally got to wear the UFC bantamweight belt. However, he reached the top of the mountain unlike any other champion before him, via disqualification. Petr Yan, his opponent tonight in the co-main event of UFC 273, threw an illegal knee in a fight he was ahead and Sterling was unable to continue. Sterling looked back at his path to the top and the unsatisfying climax.
“It’s been a roller coaster,” Sterling said. “I think that’s the best way to describe it, ups and downs. I always envisioned that I would be here one day. Obviously, the way it happened wasn’t the way I planned for it. But I always felt like I was the champ after I beat Cory Sandhagen. It was the consensus from all the fans and media. So it’s just interesting how the tune changes with one bad performance. But that’s just the way the game goes. So I’m proud of everything I’ve done and accomplished in the sport.”
The image that has been seen everywhere by now in the lead up to the rematch is Sterling in tears as the belt is wrapped around his waist. They were certainly not tears of joy and according to Sterling, it did not sink in that he was actually the champion until the belt arrived at his house well after the fight.
Despite all the trash talk from Yan and MMA fans who do not view Sterling as the rightful champion, Sterling is as even-keeled as ever heading into the fight. He does not hold any ill-will against Yan and is prepared to settle their differences in the Octagon (not outside as Yan has suggested this week).
“Personal is tough word choice for me to use,” Sterling said. “The only personal part for me is really just, we have two guys that came to a table. One guy thinks he has the best product, I think I got the best product and we got to figure it out. We agree to disagree and there’s one way we could try to agree and that’s settling it in the cage like men. So that’s really as far as it goes for me.”
After winning the belt, Sterling underwent neck surgery that sidelined him for an extended period of time. Yan took advantage of that by winning the interim title against short-notice opponent Cory Sandhagen, whom Sterling submitted in the first round to earn his shot at the belt. Sterling is taking what he saw in that fight into consideration tonight.
“It was a great fight,” Sterling said. “Yan did what he was supposed to do, he won. He did some cool things in there and made some good adjustments. I think the difference that was missing from that fight was a little bit of wrestling. I put good stock in it, but at the same time, he’s not fighting me. So we’ll see what he can really do when he has 100% Aljamain Sterling standing in front of him.”
Going back to the beginning, Sterling began training thanks to an invite from pound-for-pound great Jon Jones, who was training in Ithaca, New York, at the time with Team Bombsquad. Sterling’s potential was noticed quickly as he was balancing being a college student and wrestler with his MMA training.
“People were comparing me to Jon Jones,” Sterling said. “I thought we were similar. I didn’t think we were the same, but I thought if I could do half of what he was able to do, then I should be in a pretty good spot. I think that was the main thing for me. Then some of the other guys, the upperclassmen, Pat Audinwood, John Franchi, Mike Massenzio, a couple of guys, UFC vets that would come come down and train, I saw the way they were working and how they were performing. I felt like, ‘why couldn’t I be just as good if not better?’ Based on what I was seeing and how they were performing. That kind of gave me the confidence that I just needed to keep trusting in what I was doing.”
Sterling’s rise can be seen solely in his striking improvements. “The Funkmaster” is a grappler at heart and won half of his pre-UFC fights via submission. He seemed to find a new gear on the feet when he snapped a two-fight losing streak against fellow grappler Augusto Mendes in 2017 with a stellar striking performance. Sterling is 8-1 since the two-fight skid and has gained more and more confidence in his ability on the feet.
“I think just trusting the process with my coaches, putting the time in, just like anything,” Sterling said of his striking. “When I first started wrestling, I was kind of the same way. I wasn’t very good. I was really strong and I had a lot of heart and I was willing to put the time in because I was intrinsically motivated. That’s what I was willing to do because I knew if I can get dangerous on the feet, working with Ray [Longo], working with Al [Iaquinta], working with some of the other guys, you can only get better. If you’re not getting better that’s on you. So I made sure I put the time in those departments. I’ve made sure I don’t forget what got me here, which was the grappling. I think that is what’s made me a very well-rounded fighter.”
His improvements will be put to the test tonight in the main event of UFC 273, when he takes on one of the most dangerous fighters in the sport, Petr Yan. The final step on Aljamain Sterling’s journey will be winning the title on his terms.
