Aljamain Sterling discusses the trend of Brazilian jiu-jitsu stars making the transition into mixed martial arts
The sport of MMA, in comparison to other major sports around the world, is still in its infancy. The evolution of the sport continues to move at a fast and ferocious pace which enables organizations to sign blue chip prospects from other walks of combat sports.
Brazilian jiu-jitsu has created stars in their realm that have made, or are on the path to making, that transition to mixed martial arts. Dillon Danis, who recently signed with Bellator, comes to mind from his world championship career in the grappling and ground combat discipline.
UFC bantamweight Aljamain Sterling, like the rest of us, has seen this trend of competitors transitioning from BJJ to MMA, and feels like the MMA community may need to pump the breaks on the hype-train surrounding some of these athletes.
“I gotta say so, I think so,” Sterling said after being asked if guys coming over to MMA from BJJ are over-hyped while appearing on Punch 2 The Face Radio. “You got a few selected guys who can go out there and can just grapple like that and dominate. But you to be good at takedowns, and your opponent has to have no wrestling and you have to be a world class jiu-jitsu practitioner. This (MMA) is a completely different landscape, when your getting punched in the face and guys are throwing elbows off their backs.”
Sterling will be taking on a high level jiu-jitsu practitioner in his own right on Saturday night, as he will take on Augusto Mendes at UFC on FOX 24 in Kansas City, MO. The bantamweight division showdown will take place during the UFC Fight Pass prelims. While Sterling is well aware of the jiu-jitsu pedigree of Mendes, “Funk Master” not only will be ready if the fight heads to the mat, he welcomes the opportunity.
“I dare him to take me down,” Sterling said when speaking about Mendes. “Because one, if he takes me down, I’m gonna getting back up. And if he manages to pull me back down, I guarantee I’m gonna slice his face up with elbows from my back. He can do whatever he wants, I’m gonna be smacking the crap out of him and I can guarantee he’s not gonna want to be there for long.”