Aljamain Sterling

The three-defense bantamweight champion

Aljamain "Funk Master" Sterling held the UFC bantamweight title from March 2021 to August 2023 — a two-and-a-half-year reign that included three consecutive title defenses (Petr Yan rematch, TJ Dillashaw, Henry Cejudo), the most-defended bantamweight title reign in UFC history. He lost the title to Sean O'Malley at UFC 292 and moved up to featherweight in 2024. His record stands at 24-5.

His résumé includes wins over Augusto Mendes, Cody Stamann, Pedro Munhoz, Cory Sandhagen, Petr Yan (the DQ at UFC 259 and the rematch decision at UFC 273), TJ Dillashaw, and Henry Cejudo.

The funk wrestling foundation

Sterling trained at the Serra-Longo Fight Team in Long Island, New York under coaches Matt Serra and Ray Longo. The "funk" wrestling style — chain wrestling with constant motion, unconventional position transitions, and the willingness to attempt high-risk back-take entries — is the most identifiable feature of his game.

The technical signature:

• Chain wrestling: takedowns chained from clinch entries, sprawled bouts, and recovery from striking exchanges.
• Back-take game: the rear-naked choke and back-control ground-and-pound that's the canonical finish of his title-defense run. The Cory Sandhagen back-take finish was a clinic.
• Constant motion: Sterling rarely fights from a static stance; his pace is among the highest at championship level.
• Striking defense: not the most-defended striking technique at bantamweight, but enough to survive the early-rounds before his wrestling closes the distance.

The Petr Yan DQ and the title controversy

The UFC 259 title bout against Petr Yan in March 2021 ended in one of the more controversial decisions in UFC history. Yan landed an illegal knee strike to a grounded Sterling in round 4. The strike was widely viewed as intentional; the referee disqualified Yan and Sterling was declared the new champion.

The decision was widely controversial — some commentators argued Sterling had been winning the bout regardless of the foul; others argued the foul itself was the obvious cause of the result. The post-fight discussion produced one of the more active title-legitimacy debates in modern UFC matchmaking, with Sterling repeatedly publicly addressing the criticism.

The UFC 273 rematch in April 2022 settled the question — Sterling won by unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 47-48) in a five-round bout that demonstrated his wrestling-and-pressure game could beat Yan at championship pace.

The Henry Cejudo defense

The May 2023 UFC 288 bout against Henry Cejudo was the toughest title defense of Sterling's reign. Cejudo was returning from a three-year retirement to challenge for the title; Sterling won by split decision (48-47, 48-47, 47-48) in a five-round bout that was much closer than the casual fan would have predicted.

The result was the most consequential bantamweight title defense of the 2020s — Cejudo was attempting a return to top-of-division status, and Sterling's wrestling-and-cardio pressure held him off.

The O'Malley title loss

The August 2023 UFC 292 loss to Sean O'Malley (KO in round 2) was Sterling's title-losing performance. O'Malley landed a counter right hand that dropped Sterling, followed up with strikes for the finish. The loss ended Sterling's reign and the bantamweight era he had defined.

The featherweight move

Sterling moved up to featherweight in 2024 with the goal of avoiding the Sean O'Malley rematch and competing for a second-division title. His featherweight career started with a win over Calvin Kattar (UFC on ABC 6, April 2024) and a loss to Movsar Evloev (UFC 310, March 2024 — controversial decision).

The legacy

Sterling's case for the bantamweight historical canon is the three-title-defense run, the Petr Yan rematch, the Henry Cejudo defense, and the funk-wrestling template that has influenced the bantamweight grappling game.

The Petr Yan DQ controversy doesn't materially diminish the legacy — Sterling demonstrated his championship-eligibility credibility through the subsequent rematch wins, and the three-defense reign is structural evidence of his place at the top of the division.