Aljamain Sterling has heard all the naysayers over the past year.
Sterling’s championship victory over Petr Yan at UFC 259 in March 2021 has come with an asterisk for many in the MMA community due to the nature of the “The Funk Master’s” victory, which came when he was rendered unable to continue due to an illegal knee in the fourth round. As a result, Sterling was able to take the 135-pound belt home thanks to a disqualification victory. Yan was ahead on two of the three judges’ scorecards at the time of the stoppage.