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VIDEO – UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling Looks Jacked on His Road to Recovery

Published 10/13/2021, 8:30 AM EDT

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UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has been sidelined because of a neck injury. He last fought at UFC 259 as a challenger to Petr Yan’s UFC bantamweight championship. ‘Funkmaster’ won the contest via DQ after ‘No Mercy’ Yan landed an illegal knee strike on the grounded challenger.

This forced the referee to stop the fight and award the win and the title to Sterling, who became the first fighter in UFC history to win a title by disqualification.

Aljamain hasn’t competed since the win against Yan. He underwent surgery and even withdrew from his UFC 267 rematch against the Russian, as he is yet to recover.

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Sterling recently posted a video from his gym on Twitter. He is on a road to recovery and in the video, he said, “Yes sir, coming back, little by little.”

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Aljamain Sterling responds to criticism

Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan were booked for a rematch at UFC 267 on October 30, 2021. Unfortunately for the MMA community, Sterling had to pull out of the fight. Subsequently, many people criticized him for his decision, calling him a ‘paper champion’.

Former UFC bantamweight champion Yan, after he learned about Sterling’s decision to back out, was quick to send a message to the people. ‘No Mercy’ posted a video on social media. In the clip, he said, “You all know what happened to my fight. You all know Aljo just ran away like a sneaky coward.”

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Sterling, on The MMA Hour, hit back at the criticism and said, “I think that’s a pretty good, logical reason to not want to be paralyzed in the octagon. I’m not looking to be the first person to win a belt by DQ and to be the first person in the octagon and be paralyzed in the cage.”

“I’m sorry if I think my health is more important, and the longevity of me living in my body, my capsule, is more important than proving some stupid beef who’s the better fighter when I’m not even 100 percent yet,” he added.

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What do you think of the criticism Aljamain Sterling has received? Also, what did you think of his insane physique? Let us know in the comments!

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Written by:

Arunaditya Aima

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Arunaditya is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. Having completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Multimedia Journalism from IIJNM, Arunaditya aspires to be an important voice in the world of MMA and interview the likes of Jon Jones, Conor McGregor, Amanda Nunes, and other such superstars of the sport. He has followed the sport for over a decade and is an ardent fan of Georges St-Pierre, who he believes is the greatest of all time.
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