Aljamain Sterling

Aljamain Sterling
Born Aljamain Sterling
(1989-07-31) July 31, 1989
Cortland, New York, United States
Other names The Funk Master
Nationality American
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Weight 135 lb (61 kg; 9.6 st)
Division Featherweight
Bantamweight
Reach 71.0 in (180 cm)[1]
Fighting out of Uniondale, New York, United States
Team Serra-Longo Fight Team
Rank Purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Matt Serra[2][3]
Wrestling NCAA division III wrestling[4]
Years active 2010-present
Mixed martial arts record
Total 13
Wins 12
By knockout 2
By submission 6
By decision 4
Losses 1
By decision 1
Website Official UFC Profile
Mixed martial arts record from Sherdog
last updated on: July 23, 2014

Aljamain Antoine Sterling[5] (born July 31, 1989) brother of Manchester Cirty player Raheem Stirling is an English mixed martial artist. A professional MMA competitor since 2011, Sterling made a name for himself competing in Cage Fury Fighting Championships, where he won and defended the Bantamweight title. He is signed with the UFC, fighting in its Bantamweight division.[6]

Sterling is #8 in the official UFC bantamweight rankings.[7]

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Sterling started his career off in Ithaca, N.Y. at Team BombSquad. He finished up a successful collegiate wrestling career at SUNY-Cortland where he went 87-27 and was a two-time NCAA Division III All-American.[8] He earned the nickname “The Funk Master” from his unorthodox wrestling style. Sterling developed an interest for MMA when he met Jon Jones when they went to school together at Morrisville State College and trained on the wrestling team.[9]

Sterling started his amateur career in 2009 with a submission win. Prior to turning pro Sterling compiled a 6-1 amateur record with the lone lose coming by way of split decision, he would eventually avenge this loss. Sterling captured the Raging Wolf amateur Bantamweight Championship and Extreme FC amateur Featherweight Championship along the way.[10]

Sterling started his professional career 2-0, before earning a shot at the ROC Bantamweight Championship. He would go on to defeat Claudio Ledesma by split decision to capture the title.[11] Although this would turn out to be his last bout under the Ring of Combat organization, as he would later sign with Cage Fury Fighting Championships.

Sterling made his CFFC debut in a Featherweight bout against Evan Chmieleski. He won the fight by TKO with just two seconds left in the first round. This victory earned him a shot at the vacant CFFC Bantamweight Championship. Sterling defeated Sean Santella via unanimous decision to capture his second professional title. He would go on to defend the CFFC Bantamweight Championship on three occasions. Sterling finished all three of his title defenses by rear naked choke, which earned him the opportunity to compete in the UFC.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Sterling was scheduled to make his UFC debut at UFC 170 against Lucas Martins, replacing an injured Bryan Caraway.[12] However Martins was eventually injured as well and replaced by fellow UFC newcomer Cody Gibson.[13] Sterling won the fight via unanimous decision.[14]

Sterling made his second UFC appearance on July 16, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 45 against Hugo Viana.[15] After controlling the majority of the fight Sterling landed a barrage of punches from the mount position causing the referee to waive off the fight late in the third round.

Sterling was expected to face Mitch Gagnon at UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine on October 4, 2014.[16] However, Sterling pulled out of the bout and was replaced by Rob Font.[17]

Following a quick recovery, Sterling was promptly rebooked and was expected to face Frankie Saenz on November 8, 2014 at UFC Fight Night 55.[18] However, Saenz was forced to withdraw from the bout and in turn promotional newcomer Michael Imperato was briefly linked as a replacement.[19] However, his signing was quickly rescinded[20] and as a result, Sterling was pulled from the event altogether.[21]

Sterling was expected to face Manvel Gamburyan on April 18, 2015 at UFC on Fox 15.[22] However, Gamburyan pulled out of the bout citing injury and was replaced by Takeya Mizugaki.[23] Sterling won the fight by submission in the third round.

Sterling faced Johnny Eduardo on December 10, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 80.[24] He won the fight via submission in the second round.[25]

Sterling next faced Bryan Caraway on May 29, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 88.[26] Despite dominating the first round, Sterling began to tire and would go on to lose the following two rounds and lose via split decision.[27]

Sterling was expected to face Raphael Assunção on December 9, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 102.[28] However, Sterling pulled out of the fight on November 23 citing injury.[29] Assunção was subsequently removed from the card.[30]

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts record

Res. Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Loss 12–1 Bryan Caraway Decision (split) UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs. Garbrandt May 29, 2016 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 12–0 Johnny Eduardo Submission (guillotine choke) UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. VanZant December 10, 2015 2 4:18 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 11–0 Takeya Mizugaki Submission (arm-triangle choke) UFC on Fox: Machida vs. Rockhold April 18, 2015 3 2:11 Newark, New Jersey, United States
Win 10–0 Hugo Viana TKO (punches) UFC Fight Night: Cerrone vs. Miller July 16, 2014 3 3:50 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States
Win 9–0 Cody Gibson Decision (unanimous) UFC 170 February 22, 2014 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Win 8–0 Joel Roberts Submission (rear-naked choke) CFFC 30: Sterling vs. Roberts November 2, 2013 1 1:49 King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, United States Defended the CFFC Bantamweight Championship.
Win 7–0 Sidemar Honorio Submission (rear-naked choke) CFFC 16: Williams vs. Jacoby August 24, 2012 2 4:05 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Defended the CFFC Bantamweight Championship.
Win 6–0 Casey Johnson Submission (rear-naked choke) CFFC 14: No Mercy April 14, 2012 3 2:11 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Defended the CFFC Bantamweight Championship.
Win 5–0 Sean Santella Decision (unanimous) CFFC 11: Danger Zone! October 22, 2011 5 5:00 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Won the CFFC Bantamweight Championship.
Win 4–0 Evan Chmielski TKO (punches) CFFC 10: Black Eye July 23, 2011 1 4:58 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Featherweight bout.
Win 3–0 Claudio Ledesma Decision (split) Ring of Combat 36 June 17, 2011 3 5:00 Atlantic City, New Jersey, United States Won the ROC Bantamweight Championship.
Win 2–0 Harley Leimbach Submission (rear-naked choke) EFC: Bragging Rights 2 May 21, 2011 1 4:01 Erie, Pennsylvania, United States
Win 1–0 Sergio da Silva Decision (unanimous) UCC 4: Supremacy April 22, 2011 3 5:00 Morristown, New Jersey, United States

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Fight Card - UFC Fight Night Machida vs. Rockhold". UFC.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Aljamain Sterling - Official UFC Fighter Profile". UFC.com. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Purple Belt". Instagram. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  4. ↑ Eric Holden (February 3, 2015). "Aljamain Sterling on UFC Newark: 'You know why I'm here'". axs.com.
  5. ↑ http://boxing.nv.gov/uploadedFiles/boxingnvgov/content/results/2014_Results/02-22-14MMA.pdf
  6. ↑ http://mmatorch.com/2016/02/10/aljamain-sterling-says-hes-got-offers-from-ufc-bellator-wsof-and-one-fc-will-announce-decision-next-week/
  7. ↑ http://www.ufc.ca/rankings
  8. ↑ Joe Myers (2014-04-02). "Sherdog Prospect Watch: Aljamain Sterling". Sherdog.com. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  9. ↑ Mark Daniels (2011-06-22). "Aljamain Sterling on a similar path to success as mentor UFC Champ Jon Jones". MMAdiehards.com. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  10. ↑ "Aljamain Sterling "Funk Master"". mixedmartialarts.com. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  11. ↑ "Ring of Combat XXXVI Official Results". mixedmartialarts.com. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  12. ↑ Mike Whitman (2014-01-29). "Aljamain Sterling Replaces Injured Bryan Caraway, Faces Lucas Martins at UFC 170". MMAdiehards.com. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  13. ↑ Guilherme Cruz (2014-02-12). "Cody Gibson replaces Lucas Martins, will face Aljamain Sterling at UFC 170". MMAfighting.com. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  14. ↑ Steven Marrocco (2014-02-22). "UFC 170 results: Aljamain Sterling hangs on to beat Cody Gibson". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2014-02-22.
  15. ↑ MMAjunkie Staff (2014-04-23). "Aljamain Sterling vs. Hugo Viana added to UFC Fight Night 45 in Atlantic City". MMAjunkie.com. Retrieved 2014-07-23.
  16. ↑ Cody Rempel (2014-07-31). "UFC Fight Night 54: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine – Halifax – October 4". TopMMANews.com. Retrieved 2014-09-02.
  17. ↑ Staff (2014-09-08). "Rob Font replaces Aljamain Sterling, faces Mitch Gagnon at UFC Fight Night in Halifax". sherdog.com. Retrieved 2014-09-08.
  18. ↑ Dana Becker (2014-10-13). "UFC Fight Night 55 adds Aljamain Sterling-Frankie Saenz". fightline.com. Retrieved 2014-10-13.
  19. ↑ Keith Grienke (2014-10-26). "Imperato Joins UFC To Face Sterling at UFC Fight Night 55". TopMMANews.com. Retrieved 2014-10-26.
  20. ↑ Keith Grienke (2014-10-26). "UFC Rescinds Offer to Michael Imperato". topmmanews.com.
  21. ↑ Thomas Gerbasi (2014-10-29). "Changes hit Sydney card". ufc.com. Retrieved 2014-10-29.
  22. ↑ Staff (2015-01-08). "Manny Gamburyan vs. Aljamain Sterling added to UFC on FOX 15 in April". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2015-01-08.
  23. ↑ Damon Martin (2015-02-03). "Manny Gamburyan out; Takeya Mizugaki now faces Aljamain Sterling in New Jersey". Fox Sports. Retrieved 2015-02-03.
  24. ↑ Luke Thomas (2015-09-28). "Aljamain Sterling to face Johnny Eduardo at UFC Fight Night 80". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2015-09-28.
  25. ↑ Mike Bohn (2015-12-10). "UFC Fight Night 80 results: Aljamain Sterling takes down, taps out Johnny Eduardo". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2015-12-10.
  26. ↑ Dana Becker (2016-03-31). "Aljamain Sterling gets his wish, will face Bryan Caraway at UFN 88". fightline.com. Retrieved 2016-03-31.
  27. ↑ Dave Doyle (2016-05-29). "UFC Fight Night 88 results: Bryan Caraway rallies past Aljamain Sterling". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2016-05-29.
  28. ↑ Brett Okamoto (2016-10-10). "Raphael Assuncao-Aljamain Sterling added to UFC Fight Night in Dec.". espn.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-10-10.
  29. ↑ John Morgan (2016-11-24). "Aljamain Sterling out at UFC Fight Night 102, promotion needs U.S.-based foe for Raphael Assuncao". mmajunkie.com. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
  30. ↑ Guilherme Cruz (2016-11-28). "Raphael Assuncao removed from UFC Albany card after Aljamain Sterling injury". mmafighting.com. Retrieved 2016-11-28.

External links

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