The war of words between Aljamain Sterling and Jimmie Rivera has been building for years.
In fact, Sterling dates their rivalry back to their time competing for New Jersey-based fight promotion Cage Fury Fighting Championship.
As two former CFFC champions, with Rivera winning the title after Sterling vacated it in order to jump to the UFC, “The Funkmaster” sees their upcoming matchup at UFC Phoenix on Sunday as essentially a title unification bout five years in the making.
“[This fight] is a lot more than just winning a UFC fight,” Sterling told Luke Thomas during an appearance on The MMA Hour.