Aljamain Sterling began his MMA journey with Jon Jones, and was blown away — for a number of causes — with the success of the now-UFC heavyweight champion.
Sterling and Jones went to school collectively early on earlier than the previous bantamweight champ transferred to a special college. After going by way of old fashioned social media, “Funkmaster” noticed Jones coaching in blended martial arts and puzzled how he could possibly be part of it. Sterling not solely educated with Jones, however he additionally stated that he would exit in town with him, and was shocked to see Jones partying near his fights within the octagon — and nonetheless successful convincingly.
“Suspect No. 1, and I bought to see this primary hand, was Jon Jones,” Sterling advised Demetrious Johnson. “After we had been in school collectively, and he was within the UFC, and I used to be nonetheless at college at Courtland… a way, some how, I messaged him on MySpace, and he’s coaching proper down the f*cking block from my school. I hit him up like, ‘Yo, I see you doing the grappling stuff and the preventing, and I all the time thought it was cool. I believe I could possibly be good at this. Can I test it out? How do I test it out?’ He was like, ‘I’m coaching right here,’ I used to be like, ‘Bro, I am going to high school proper right here.’ He was like, ‘Come down,’ so I got here down and he was like… ‘Man, you’re not going to indicate up.’ I used to be like, alright, wager. I confirmed up the subsequent day, and I haven’t stopped coaching since then.
“However I’d see this man, every week earlier than his combat, him on the bar… going nuts. In my head, I used to be like, no intercourse, no consuming, no smoking, and I simply thought the best way of [Mike] Tyson and [Muhammad] Ali and people guys. That’s what they stated, don’t do it if you wish to be a champion. I’m like, OK. After which I’d see him and was like, I don’t get it — after which that weekend he would simply homicide a man on Worldwide TV. I used to be like, ‘He’s doing one thing proper.’”
Sterling lately moved as much as featherweight after dropping the 135-pound title to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 in August 2023. In his first look in a brand new weight class, Sterling dominated Calvin Kattar for a unanimous resolution at UFC 300 in April. He was slated to face Movsar Evloev at UFC 307 subsequent weekend, however an damage pressured Sterling to withdraw.
After seeing Jones’ success, plus studying his physique and himself over the various years of preventing at a excessive stage, Sterling has discovered a system to take pleasure in coaching camp slightly bit greater than absolutely the grind it may be on the fitness center on the street to a UFC combat.
“I went from chilly turkey, to love six weeks — nothing modified in my fights,” Sterling stated. “[Then it was] 4 weeks, after which I bought to 2 weeks and it was like, ‘It’s all psychological, child.’ Simply put the rattling work in, and also you’re good.”
