Sterling is back in action this weekend
(Long Island, NY., January 23, 2017) – It's fight week for Aljamain Sterling. The UFC which re-booked a long awaited bantamweight bout between Long Island’s Sterling and Raphael Assuncao is set for this Saturday.
The fight was originally scheduled for December 9 at the Times Union Center in Albany as part of the UFC Fight Night 102 card, but Sterling withdrew due to an injury.
Now, the two fighters will battle on January 28, 2017 at UFC on Fox 23 in Denver, Colorado, at the Pepsi Center.
Sterling (12-1 MMA, 4-1 UFC) had just missed out on the historic UFC 205 card held at Madison Square Garden because of a bicep injury, but had healed in time for the second-ever UFC New York card in Albany. However, two weeks prior, Sterling disclosed a minor injury that forced him to withdraw again.
It didn’t take long for the 27-year-old to find a new card as these two top ranked bantamweight contenders will fight early in the New Year in the “Mile High City”.
The Long Island native, who fights out of Uniondale, started his MMA career off with 12-consecutive victories before losing via split decision to Bryan Caraway on May 29, 2016.
Sterling was a two-time All-American at SUNY Cortland. He made a name for himself while competing in the Cage of Fury Championship (CFFC), where he won and defended his bantamweight title.
He made his CFFC debut in a featherweight bout against Evan Chmieleski, where he won via TKO with two seconds left in the first round.
The impressive victory earned him a shot at the vacant CFFC bantamweight championship, where he would go on to defend three times. Sterling finished all three of his title defenses by rear-naked-choke, which earned him the opportunity to compete in the UFC.
Since joining the UFC, Sterling strung together four-consecutive wins with victories over Cody Gibson, Hugo Viana, Takeya Mizugako and Johnny Eduardo, before losing to Caraway at UFC Fight Night 88.
His opponent, Assuncao (23-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) last fought at UFC 200, where he lost via unanimous decision to T.J. Dillashaw. That bout was after a 21-month layoff because of various injuries.
Previously, he had won seven bouts in a row, including wins over Caraway and Dillashaw to move up the bantamweight rankings.
You can follow the fight on our Twitter Handle, (mmaLImagazine) or our Instagram page, (mmalongislandmagazine) for play-by-play and updates.
MMA Long Island Magazine is published by MMA New York Media Corporation. For more information please visit www.mmalongislandmagazine.com or call (516) 318-2418.
Photo credit :MMA Junkie
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