Aljamain Sterling

Sterling was born to Jamaican parents, Cleveland and Sophia Sterling, in Uniondale, New York in 1989. He had seven full siblings and at least 12 half-siblings when he was growing up. Sterling began wrestling at Uniondale High School in 2004 to stay away from the prevalent gang life that some of his brothers had joined.

Unable to catch up with the grades required to compete in Division I, Sterling enrolled at Morrisville State College, where he continued wrestling. Sterling became interested in MMA while in Morrisville after meeting Jon Jones and training on the wrestling team. Sterling transferred to Cortland after his freshman year and went on to become a two-time NCAA Division III All-American with an 87-27 record.

Sterling earned a bachelor’s degree in physical education from Cortland. Sterling wrestled and grappled two-time NCAA DI wrestling All-American and sophomore from Penn State Roman Bravo-Young on December 22, 2020, at the NLWC IV, after a long absence from the sport. Six minutes of freestyle wrestling and three minutes of Brazilian jiu-jitsu were the rules.

In the first bout, Sterling lost by points, but in the second, he tapped out Bravo-Young. Sterling has also fought in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, defeating Damien Nitkin on August 13, 2022, at High Rollerz 18. He acquired the moniker “The Funk Master” due to his unconventional wrestling technique.

Sterling was encouraged by Jones to try out mixed martial arts at his gym at the time, The Bomb Squad in Ithaca, New York, while studying in Cortland. Sterling departed The Bomb Squad a few fights into his professional career and began training with Serra-Longo Fight Team.

Sterling began his amateur career with a submission victory in 2009. Sterling had a 6-1 amateur record before going pro, with the lone defeat coming by split decision, which he would subsequently revenge. Along the road, Sterling won the Raging Wolf amateur Bantamweight Championship and the Extreme FC amateur Featherweight Championship.

Sterling was 2-0 in his pro career before earning a shot at the ROC Bantamweight Title. He would go on to win the championship by a split decision over Claudio Ledesma. Despite the fact that this would be his final fight with the Ring of Combat organization, he would subsequently join Cage Fury Fighting Championships.

Sterling made his CFFC debut against Evan Chmieleski at Featherweight. He won via TKO with only two seconds remaining in the first round. This victory earned him a chance at the CFFC Bantamweight Title, which was vacant at the time. Sterling won his second professional championship by unanimous decision over Sean Santella. He went on to defend the CFFC Bantamweight Title three times. Sterling ended all three of his championship defenses via rear naked choke, earning him a spot in the UFC.

Sterling was set to make his UFC debut against Lucas Martins at UFC 170, filling in for an injured Bryan Caraway. Martins, on the other hand, was eventually injured and replaced by fellow UFC rookie Cody Gibson. Sterling was victorious by unanimous decision.

Sterling made his second UFC debut on July 16, 2014, against Hugo Viana at UFC Fight Night 45. After dominating for the bulk of the battle, Sterling unleashed a flurry of punches from the mount position, prompting the referee to call the bout off late in the third round.

Sterling was scheduled to meet Mitch Gagnon on October 4, 2014, at UFC Fight Night: MacDonald vs. Saffiedine. Nevertheless, Sterling withdrew from the fight and was replaced by Rob Font.

Following a speedy recovery, Sterling was quickly rebooked and was scheduled to meet Frankie Saenz at UFC Fight Night 55 on November 8, 2014. Saenz was forced to withdraw from the fight, and promotional rookie Michael Imperato was briefly mentioned as a replacement. Unfortunately, his agreement was shortly revoked, and Sterling was forced to withdraw from the event.

Sterling was scheduled to meet Manny Gamburyan at UFC on Fox 15 on April 18, 2015. Unfortunately, Gamburyan withdrew from the fight due to an injury and was replaced by Takeya Mizugaki. Sterling won the bout through third-round submission.

Sterling fought Johnny Eduardo at UFC Fight Night 80 on December 10, 2015. He won the bout through submission in the second round.

Sterling then faced Bryan Caraway at UFC Fight Night 88 on May 29, 2016. Although winning the first round, Sterling began to fatigue and went on to lose the next two rounds by split decision.

Sterling was scheduled to meet Raphael Assunço at UFC Fight Night 102 on December 9, 2016. Sterling, however, withdrew from the fight on November 23 due to injury. Assunço was afterward taken off the card. The fight with Assunço was postponed until January 28, 2017, at UFC on Fox 23. Sterling was defeated by a split decision.

Sterling fought Augusto Mendes at UFC on Fox 24 on April 15, 2017. He was victorious by unanimous decision.

Sterling fought Renan Baro at UFC 214 on July 29, 2017. The fight was originally scheduled to take place at bantamweight, but the CSAC declared on June 28 that they would not license Baro to compete at that weight owing to his failure to reach the requisite weight at UFC 177. The fight with Sterling went through as planned at a catchweight of 140 pounds. Sterling was victorious by unanimous decision.

Sterling was scheduled to meet Rani Yahya at UFC Fight Night 123 on December 9, 2017. Unfortunately, owing to injury, Yahya withdrew from the tournament on November 7, 2017, and was replaced by Marlon Moraes. He was knocked out in the first round.

Sterling fought Brett Johns at UFC Fight Night 128 on April 21, 2018. He was victorious by unanimous decision. Sterling fought Cody Stamann at UFC 228 on September 8, 2018. In the second round, he won through submission.

On February 17, 2019, Sterling fought Jimmie Rivera at UFC on ESPN 1. He was victorious by unanimous decision. Sterling fought Pedro Munhoz at UFC 238 on June 8, 2019. He was victorious by unanimous decision.

Sterling challenged Cory Sandhagen at UFC 250 on June 6, 2020, in a bantamweight championship eliminator confirmed by UFC president Dana White. In the first round, he won through submission. After this victory, he received his first Performance of the Night.

UFC Bantamweight Champion

Sterling was scheduled to battle Petr Yan for the UFC Bantamweight Title at UFC 256 on December 12, 2020. However, on November 22, it was reported that the bout had been removed from the UFC 256 card for unspecified reasons and that it would now take place on March 6, 2021, at UFC 259. Sterling won the fight via disqualification in the fourth round due to an intended illegal knee. He is now the UFC Bantamweight Champion. He was the first fighter in UFC history to win a title by disqualification.

A rematch with Yan was scheduled on October 30, 2021, at UFC 267. Sterling, however, withdrew from the competition on September 25 owing to ongoing neck concerns from surgery. The fight was originally slated for UFC 272 on March 5, 2022, but it was bumped back to UFC 273 on April 9. Sterling won the tight fight by split decision and successfully defended his championship. 11 of 18 MMA media outlets gave the fight to Sterling, while 5 called it a draw.

Sterling successfully defended his championship against T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280 on October 22, 2022. Sterling won the one-sided fight via TKO in the second round, marking Sterling’s first strike stoppage in eight years.