Aljamain Sterling recently participated in Fury Pro 8, a grappling event, where he faced off against Kevin Dantzler. Known as ‘Funk Master’ and recognized for his exceptional Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills within the UFC, Sterling faced defeat in his grappling match with Dantzler. The bout lacked action as Dantzler chose to pull guard from the beginning.
Despite the former UFC champ’s attempts to pass Dantzler’s guard, the judges ruled in favor of Dantzler, who nearly secured an armbar during the confrontation. Sterling openly criticized his opponent’s strategy of pulling guard from the start of the match. His remarks caught the attention of ONE Championship flyweight submission grappling champion, Mikey Musumeci, who addressed Sterling’s comments on Instagram.
Musumeci defended the guard-pulling tactic, stating that sport jiu-jitsu does not involve striking and aims to submit opponents as quickly as possible. He continued by comparing the wrestling skills of jiu-jitsu practitioners to Division 1 wrestlers and suggested that pulling guard ultimately seeks to achieve submissions, the primary goal of sport jiu-jitsu.
Aljamain Sterling is set to return to the octagon following his most recent competition against Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 in August 2023. O’Malley, now the new bantamweight champion, knocked out Sterling in the first round. Before the fight, Sterling had hinted at moving up a weight class due to the challenge of reaching the bantamweight limit.
Looking to recover from his title loss, Sterling will face featherweight contender Calvin Kattar at the highly anticipated UFC 300 in April. This fight marks Sterling’s second featherweight appearance and his first within the UFC.
