UFC bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling insists that he respects Jose Aldo, but knows he has “the tools” to defeat him. Sterling discussed the potential for a fight against Aldo in the UFC Vegas 44 post-fight show after seeing Aldo delivered a resounding decision victory over Rob Font.
“I thought it was a phenomenal performance. I was doing my breakdown with my podcast and trying to figure out which Jose Aldo was going to show up tonight. I think we got the questions answered.
Sterling Promises He “Has the Tools” To Beat Aldo
Cause three round Jose Aldo is a nightmare for anybody in this division. We saw it with Pedro Muhnoz, we saw it with [Marlon] ‘Chito’ Vera.
Five rounds, he tends to struggle a little bit. [Max] Holloway fights, a couple of the other ones, even going back to the WEC days with Mark Hominick.
So for him to come out and perform like that for five rounds compared to what he did against Petr Yan, this was night and day. I think he’s still getting better, still proving that he’s one of the top dogs in this division.
I’m super excited ‘cause this division is super hot right now. There’s guys for everyone to fight and I think even outside the top 15, this division is just way too deep.”
Aljamain Sterling, who won the bantamweight belt earlier this year when Petr Yan illegally kicked him in the head, said that Aldo’s approach to the fight surprised him.
“I figured it would start with Jose Aldo winning early and then Rob Font kind of turning it on later on and really putting the paces on him.
It kind of turned out to be the opposite. Font turned it on early, Jose kind of weathered an early storm and then started to find his shots. Landed that beautiful cross that dropped him. From there it just kind of turned into the Jose Aldo show for the rest of the night.”
Ultimately, Sterling sees Jose Aldo’s grappling as the key area where the former featherweight champion is lacking.
“I know how to escape. He’s not going to hold me there for the entire round and again, he’s a black belt, he’s a legend, he’s done what he’s done in the history books for a reason. But I do believe I have the tools to beat any one of these guys in the bantamweight division.
I think myself and Merab Dvalishvili are just going to run through everybody.” Do you think Aljamain Sterling beats Jose Aldo if the two ever fight? Let us know in the comments.
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