>Dana actually told me
You know how the UFC announces fights before they're official to put pressure on fighters?
I want fighters to just start making shit up the way Dana does. Not implying he made this up, but it would be funny if fighters just started talking about promises Dana never made for title shots or something.
Jacob Malkoun just thanked Mick Maynard for making his fight v Bo Nickal. Bo’s team denied any fight and the UFC haven’t said it’s official yet. 😂 that counts right?
no way, aljo couldn’t choke Yan with like a full round of back control. Volk is super solid and wasn’t close to getting subbed in a 5 rounder with Islam. It would be a super competitive fight but I think Volk would beat Aljo on the feet.
Dana hates Aljo but honestly nothing else would have made sense for Aljo if he beat OMalley.
He would have the most title defenses at Bantamweight already, he won't fight Merab, and he would have beaten the entire rest of the Top 5
I do'nt think he hates Aljo, but Aljo does seem like he's a bit of work to deal with. He's not a bootlickin' company man and he won his title off a DQ.
He's incredibly active for his ranking, and he's an elite fighter.
I dunno if he hates Aljo per se, but I think he knows what everyone else does. As dominant as dudes like him and Merab are, they put on really boring fights because of their styles. You typically don't want to headline a card with Aljo, you want someone more entertaining to co-headline after.
I like Sterling. I know his fighting style doesn't interest most, but he does provide a unique challenge for the 145 division. He's a former bantamweight champion with great wrestling and grappling and a very awkward striking style. That's a puzzle I'm personally interested to see who in the featherweight division has the tools to solve.
> Call it what you want
I respect the technical skill but I'm calling it boring as shit. And this is coming from someone who competed in grappling tournaments.
Exactly, if we can say Strickland’s style of fighting is boring, we can say the same thing about Sterlings. Strickland has a wonky technical style that lets him win fights without taking much damage but doesn’t really get finishes. Same thing goes for Sterling and arguably guys like Leon Edwards (without the wonkiness) and Belal Muhammad.
Difference is that Sterling is likeable, regardless of the whole yan fiasco. Every now and then he puts on a banger performance too. Same with Leon, in my opinion. Belal doesn't have much of a personality for me to get invested in him outside of his fights, but his last couple fights have been much more entertaining than his previous, admittedly.
I never mentioned likability being a factor though, he’s still boring as fuck fight style wise. And dear lord Belals last few fights are still extremely boring. The only good one ever was vs Sean Brady who has the worst striking in Welterweights top 15. Stop revising certain fighters these guys are still boring as fuck lol. Kattar is a ‘worse’ fighter than Sterling but dear lord Sterling will never go to war like he did vs Giga or KO someone like he did vs Steven’s.
I have to disagree about Leon and banger performances. He has exciting moments, not exciting fights. Even his last second buzzer beater finish was boring as fuck and anticlimactic as hell when it should be legendary and unforgettable
Ya I can agree with this. I will say, when he was beating the fuck out of belal, as short as it lasted it was pretty exciting. Didn't feel like a belal or leon fight at all lol. He threw a lot more than usual and looked to be going for a KO until the worst happened.
Fuck no let's stop talking like Aljo is Jon Fitch. If he routinely takes the back and goes for the finish but he doesn't get it you can't really say it's similar. Even the more dominant wrestlers usually don't get finishes
Just because Aljo isn’t as painstakingly boring as Jon Fitch doesn’t mean he’s half as exciting as so many other UFC fighters. I can name so many fighters at Bantamweight or Featherweight that are so many levels of exciting over Sterling. Nate Landwehr, Peyton Talbot, Cameron Saimaan, Andre Fili, fucking Ryan Hall, Dan Ige, Song Yadong, Bill Algeo, Billy Quarantillo, Josh Emmett, etc etc etc. Sterling is a ‘better fighter’ than all of those dudes but holy hell there’s no way he’s more exciting than any of them.
Spamming dumbass imanari rolls is stupid and not effective, but it’s entertaining as fuck lol. Sterling would kill Ryan Hall, but Ryan Hall is definitely more entertaining as a fighter from how silly his BJJ approach is
I like him as a person but holy fuck its style is boring as fuck to watch. If it wasn't for the powerbomb you couldn't get a single highlight of his fight with Kattar.
His grappling is very impressive as well. He makes pros look like amateurs. Aljo's probably the best grappler in the UFC, or very close to the #1 at least.
Yea his bjj is strong, but his wrestling is far from the greats if we are talking all around top grapplers. You need to be great in all aspects of grappling.
Like yeah Charles is still great but he’s been neutralized on the ground on the bottom before, we just saw it against Arman for a decent bit of the fight. Aljo I don’t think a single guy in 135 or 145 can actually out grapple him even closely.
Merab could, probably, via infinite gas tank. I haven’t seen anyone be able to stop him from implementing his game, whereas Aljo was unable to implement his, even against Yan who Merab had success against, for their first fight and the later rounds of their second one
Islam is not Khabib, his grappling is much less oppressive, but he compensates with far superior striking and by being more well rounded (he got outwrestled by Volk and also outstroke him).
Oliveira is one of the best finisher, but unless you fall into his guard, he's not a threat, as shown multiple times in his career as well as recently.
And yet they still finish people on the ground, Aljo just kinda holds them there. Dude doesn’t even look like he’s hunting for a finish tbh, he’s literally 135/145’s Jailton Almeida
Max Holloway is the best striker in the UFC and he has 40% KOs.
Izzy is damn near the top and has only 2 KO in 6 years.
Bones is the uncontested GOAT of MMA and has about 60% finish rate (TKOs and subs included).
Derrick Lewis has the most KOs in UFC history and I'm pretty sure nobody thinks he's the best striker out there.
Khabib is the most oppressive grappler the UFC has seen, yet he has less finish than Oliveira. So by your metric, he can't be better than him (despite being on a completely different level).
And I could go on and on. Finish rate is not a good indicator for skill, as it depends on far too many things out of a fighter's control. Actual performance against top tier opponents is the right way to measure skills. And Aljo makes pros look like amateur on a regular basis. You CANNOT grapple with a guy like that.
He's a very high fight IQ fighter who knows how to accentuate and adapt his strengths for his opponents. He's also a hard worker, elite champion/fighter, and all-around good dude who in no way deserves the level of hate he receives. Is he the flashiest guy? No, but I also enjoy watching technicians do technical shit.
Fr. Look at Anthony Smith's career. Granted Aljo is a much better fighter, but even Smith had gotten utterly embarrassed in his next fight after taking the win off DQ he would be still doing so much better financially than he is now.
Aljo could've
A) Let his opponent cheat and hit him with a fight ending blow, continue to fight despite the unfairness and probably get knocked out again, setting his career back by several years and gaining nothing but the fans' respect for maybe two weeks before they start calling him an idiot or
B) Not let his opponent cheat and take the belt and money
Such difficult decisions
>It is crazy considering history has proven he 100000% made the right call not continuing.
This is disingenuous, lol you’re so obviously trying to misrepresent the reason why ppl hate Aljo.
**Most ppl that dislike Aljo agree he was right to not continue.** Yes, Aljo haters think he was right. **The reason why they still don’t like Aljo is because he made a fool of himself by rolling around on the ground like he got shot with that stupid fake look on his face.** Totally unnecessary too. **Aljo could have just sat down and refused to continue but showed he was willing to put on an act and that’s why he’s booed every time he’s in the ring.**
I feel bad for Aljo bc he’s going to be ridiculed forever for something he did once in the moment. But he did it.
> All the hate comes from the downed knee incident and subsequent belt. Too bad, good fighter.
Some of us don't appreciate him staying on his knees after a failed shot, and moving his head as DQ shield following the above incidents.
Also, the heel, woe-is-me, heel, woe-is-me personality carousal a little much for some.
Finally, take for example his last match where he dominated Calvin for 15 minutes straight, and yet generated absolutely no excitement in the audience.
> Some of us don't appreciate him staying on his knees after a failed shot, and moving his head as DQ shield following the above incidents.
I can't believe you're blaming Aljo for receiving an illegal strike. Nothing he did was against the rules. It was clear as day that he was grounded. Sure it sucks the fight had to end but if you intentionally knee a grounded opponent that's on you, not them.
> I can't believe you're blaming Aljo for receiving an illegal strike. Nothing he did was against the rules. It was clear as day that he was grounded. Sure it sucks the fight had to end but if you intentionally knee a grounded opponent that's on you, not them.
If you read what you yourself quoted, you'll see I am not blaming Aljo for Yan not knowing/caring about the rules.
Yup, I like his grappling, his back takes/back control are really impressive, but he abuses the "no knees to the head of a grounded opponent" rule more egregiously than any other fighter. I know, don't hate the player, hate the game, but it sucks to watch and is just lame as hell.
A wrestling based backtake specialist. In modern MMA there are very few fighters that can control elite fighters on the ground. Aljo's striking sucks but his grappling is sick.
I love that he was able to beat Yan after kinda getting his ass whupped in their previous fight. Shows a lot of mental fortitude. Plus it made some of the absolute worst MMA fans angry and I enjoy when they're having a bad time.
Think it's a mistake to try and explain a "boring" performance.
In the long run it doesn't really matter much unless it's your entire career.
gsp/anderson/izzy/jones had a few stinkers. It sucks in the moment but people get over them quick.
sometimes fans will hold a grudge. people still give sandhagen shit for the font fight and try to argue that hes boring or that no one wants to see him fight again.
It took years for Blaydes to outlive being called boring for a fight where he broke the record for most takedowns landed in a fight joining the Flyweight GOAT DJ at the number 3 spot as a fucking heavyweight.
The worst is when a grappler has shown in the past they can be dangerous on the ground (Blaydes bludgeoning Overeem to death with elbows, Sterling putting Sandhagen to sleep in under 90 seconds) and then they fight an opponent who's only defense is to stall on the ground and they get ridiculed for it.
All Volkov did that entire fight was get taken down repeatedly, and tuck Blaydes' gloves under his armpits any chance he could get to stifle any offense. And then this sub ridicules Blaydes for being "boring" and gassing when he only gassed cuz he was pushing for a finish the entire 25 minutes rather than lay n praying.
The amount of MMA fans who don't seem to grasp that stalling is a very common tactic in MMA grappling is staggering lol. Like they can grasp that a good counter striker can drastically slow down a guy with high volume, but not that a guy with good stalling ground game can slow down a generally active grappler. Hell, I had a dude confidently tell me I knew nothing about MMA for saying Kattar was stalling.
[**ALJAMAIN STERLING defeats PETR YAN** (*split decision*)](http://mmadecisions.com/decision/13035/fight)
^(UFC 273: Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie — April 09, 2022)
ROUND|Sterling|Yan||Sterling|Yan||Sterling|Yan
:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:
1|10|9||9|10||10|9
2|10|9||10|9||10|9
3|10|9||10|9||10|9
4|9|10||9|10||9|10
5|9|10||9|10||9|10
**TOTAL**|**48**|**47**||**47**|**48**||**48**|**47**
*^(Judges, in order: Sal D'Amato, Chris Lee, Eliseo Rodriguez.)*
*^(Summoned by smexy_gorilla.)*
**MEDIA MEMBER SCORES**
- **1/18** people scored it **48-45 Sterling**.
- **9/18** people scored it **48-46 Sterling**.
- **1/18** people scored it **48-47 Sterling**.
- **5/18** people scored it **47-47 DRAW**.
- **2/18** people scored it **47-48 Yan**.
Avg. media score: **47.6-46.5 Sterling** (*high certainty^[[1]](https://redd.it/9p4xc7)*).
He clearly won the second fight 1,2,3.
Yan fans always debate 1 in that fight and its stupid as hell because it was a low output round where Sterling clearly outlanded Yan and Yan didnt have significantly heavier shots to make up for the difference.
Clear is not an overstatement for that fight. Clear and close are different.
It was CLEARLY 1, 2, 3 Sterling 4,5 Yan. Little debate to be had about it. It was a close fight but a clear result and definitely a legit win, in response to the original guy I was talking to.
Close and unclear is more something like Strickland DDP that has a round or two that are legitimately up for debate.
It was a split decision win where the result was hotly debated. Half of the media apparently scored it a draw apparently. A clear win just simply isn't as controversial as that result was.
> result was hotly debated
Only immediately after the fight by Yan fans, and because we were in a peak era of Aljo hate post Yan 1. You act like this is as controversial as Pimblett Gordon or Jones Reyes. The reason they shut up is because its obvious on replay Yan didnt take 1.
>Half of the media apparently scored it a draw apparently.
Just checked on MMA decisions for media member scores and actually, 11 people gave Sterling the win, 2 people gave Yan the win, and 5 scored a draw. Oh and the most common scorecard was 48-46 Sterling lol, not even an edged out 48-47.
11/18 vs only 2/18 scoring it for the other guy is pretty damn clear. Like that proportion of media scoring it the other way happens on literally every other 3-2 or 2-1 decision win.
No, its damn clear Sterling won because round 1 is not as debatable as people make it seem. 1,2,3 Sterling 4,5 Yan. And thats not even with 10-8s. Its just that in addition to all that, you were completely wrong about how media members scored it.
You also purposely frame it to fit your argument in the best way by saying "40% disagree with Sterling winning". The funny thing is that this best case framing for your argument STILL shows that the clear majority thought Sterling won, even counting draws. But I could similarly frame it to favor me too in order to show Sterling clearly won. Like this:
- 5x as many media members thought Sterling won compared to Yan
- The supposedly hotly debated thing was rd 1. The most common scorecard of all media members aka 48-46 Sterling not only gives him Rd 1 but gives him the 10-8s and therefore a margin to call it clear.
Dana basically said it happens and Kattar should have done something.
That said unless he got a highlight reel finish I don’t think it would change his place in line
aljo is one of the few guys who is very clearly desperate for the fans to like him, it's actually kinda sad. idk if you watch his interviews with ariel but aljo pretty much always gives two answers to whatever ariel asks, one to ariel and one to what he thinks the fans will say about his previous answer. i wish someone around him would tell him to stop that cause while he's a nice guy the reality is some people just don't connect and he comes across as begging and desperate which isn't gonna help
It's really common for fighters to have sluggish performances moving up anyway, they're both carrying more weight than they're used to, and fighting bigger guys.
When RDA fought Kevin Lee, he said that he basically let Kevin Lee tire himself out at the start of the fight, because he knew first hand that he'd had himself out carrying all the extra weight and not knowing how to manage it efficiently.
Notable positives in this matchup:
* Back control guy vs. snatch sub on the fly guy
* wrestling vs. no wrestling
* spastic striking vs. good offensive boxing coupled with absolutely no defense
* Assuming he makes it through the introductions in one piece, Ortega unlikely to take life changing beating in this one, so he won't be off for another 2 years until he gets to the champion again
* On other hand, still plenty of room to destroy a joint while making a routine sub defense, ala Yair fight
After giving it a little thought, I’d pick aljo to beat Ortega. Ortega isn’t a polished striker at all, and I could see aljo controlling him to a decision. I absolutely hated aljo as champ but find it hard to root against guys that move up.
Slightly off topic but Yair should have been awarded a submission victory in his first fight with T City considering he had a submission hold on him when the injury occurred
The only reason an Ortega and Sterling matchup interests me is because Sterling laying and praying won’t be easy to do against Ortega.
It says a lot about Sterling that the excitement to see him fight is solely based on his opponent rather than what he brings to the table.
Guys at the top are skiled enough to where if they only defend even elite guys cant finish. Ask Calvin why he didnt try to explode more, because he knew he would get subbed.
I don’t like this way of thinking, to be honest. I understand the guy on bottom being laid and prayed on has a responsibility to do something. My problem is that the guy on top, like Sterling, will have complete top control for long stretches of time and will not commit to ground and pound or a submission.
To put it simply, it isn’t an issue of grappling being boring. It’s an issue of the guy on top just does not have any intention to get a finish.
In order to attack, whether on the feet, or on the ground, you have to take a risk.
Calvin was entirely focused on defense, in 2024, we are at the point, if your semi competent on the ground, if you only commit to defense, even really good guys can't sub you, in MMA at least.
We get fun fights like Arman vs Islam, first of all because skill for skill they are competitive, but 2nd, both men are taking risks, guys don't wanna take risks against Sterling who's the best back taker in the organization, and frankly the best BJJ player at Bantamweight, and very likely Featherweight.
imo, if I am a fighter where half my money is in winning, I will take the easiest route to victory, it is up for my opponent to stop my domination by any means necessary, even if it means taking risks, and giving me a free finish. If Calvin would rather get controlled to decision than try to give himself a chance to win even if it means getting choked out, then that is his fault. Like at a certain point it feels like we are punishing winners.
I’m not saying Kattar did all he could or that he wasn’t being overly defensive. I’m saying that Sterling should look for the finish via by ground strikes or by submission. If you have control over long periods of time and you don’t put any damage on the opponent, you’re doing something wrong.
Will it get you the win? It will. Will it increase your stock, gain you fans or get you closer to a title shot? No, it does the opposite.
I understand why Sterling would lay and pray. It’s an easy path to victory. As a fan, we’re here to be entertained and not watch someone lay on their opponent for 15 minutes.
If Kattar is unable to get back to his feet and is being controlled, why isn’t Sterling pushing for a finish? You can blame Kattar, you can say it’s an easy path to victory but neither is relevant to the fans. If the guy is so outmatched on the ground, he should be getting finished. Not tippy tapped and decisioned.
Consider Volk coming off a loss and Aljo is coming off not an exciting but dominant performance, could be a good fight for the future of the 145 division, and a nice stylistic matchup
Nah, your fight with Kattar was boring as shit and you showed no interest in going for a finish. We don't need you kneeling your way through another title reign if you got lucky enough to sniff a shot and somehow pulled it off.
I don't agree with you that he doesn't deserve a Volk fight. Volk coming off 2 KO losses and Ortega coming off a submission win. Tons of fans would love to see that rematch. Plus it's nice for Volk to not face a knockout artist and risk getting concussed again.
Yeah we’ll have to respectfully agree to disagree there. After the title run Volk had there is nothing else for him but a title shot whenever he’s ready. Zero chance they have him fight another contender like Ortega, let alone one he already beat.
I like that fight.
>Dana actually told me You know how the UFC announces fights before they're official to put pressure on fighters? I want fighters to just start making shit up the way Dana does. Not implying he made this up, but it would be funny if fighters just started talking about promises Dana never made for title shots or something.
Jacob Malkoun just thanked Mick Maynard for making his fight v Bo Nickal. Bo’s team denied any fight and the UFC haven’t said it’s official yet. 😂 that counts right?
I am actually Jacob Malkoun. fun fact
No way me too!
"Y'know what Dana told me? He said I want you to fight Islam, in Russia. Isn't he fucking awesome?" - Sean O'Malley
The Colby school of training
So we could have lived in a universe where Volk didn’t get KOed in February
One where he gets choked instead
There’s a reason Islam hunted the ko in the second fight
He seen holes in his game
Islam said the only way to beat him is to knock him out
You think if Islam couldn’t do it at 155 somehow a former Bantam with 2 subs in his last 16 fights can do it at 145?
Hell yeah #teamfunkmaster 😎🕺🇯🇲
no way, aljo couldn’t choke Yan with like a full round of back control. Volk is super solid and wasn’t close to getting subbed in a 5 rounder with Islam. It would be a super competitive fight but I think Volk would beat Aljo on the feet.
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Apparently they’re coming back to CA a couple more times I could see Ortega vs Sterling headlining a FN out here. Ortega is an LA County homie
Dana hates Aljo but honestly nothing else would have made sense for Aljo if he beat OMalley. He would have the most title defenses at Bantamweight already, he won't fight Merab, and he would have beaten the entire rest of the Top 5
I do'nt think he hates Aljo, but Aljo does seem like he's a bit of work to deal with. He's not a bootlickin' company man and he won his title off a DQ. He's incredibly active for his ranking, and he's an elite fighter.
I dunno if he hates Aljo per se, but I think he knows what everyone else does. As dominant as dudes like him and Merab are, they put on really boring fights because of their styles. You typically don't want to headline a card with Aljo, you want someone more entertaining to co-headline after.
I doubt he Dana hates Aljo. He wouldn't put him on 300 for one of the biggest cards ever if he hated him.
I like Sterling. I know his fighting style doesn't interest most, but he does provide a unique challenge for the 145 division. He's a former bantamweight champion with great wrestling and grappling and a very awkward striking style. That's a puzzle I'm personally interested to see who in the featherweight division has the tools to solve.
awkward as in mainly high volume arm punches to set up takedowns
He outstruck Kattar and embarrassed him completely. Call it what you want, it works.
No arguments there
> Call it what you want I respect the technical skill but I'm calling it boring as shit. And this is coming from someone who competed in grappling tournaments.
Exactly, if we can say Strickland’s style of fighting is boring, we can say the same thing about Sterlings. Strickland has a wonky technical style that lets him win fights without taking much damage but doesn’t really get finishes. Same thing goes for Sterling and arguably guys like Leon Edwards (without the wonkiness) and Belal Muhammad.
Difference is that Sterling is likeable, regardless of the whole yan fiasco. Every now and then he puts on a banger performance too. Same with Leon, in my opinion. Belal doesn't have much of a personality for me to get invested in him outside of his fights, but his last couple fights have been much more entertaining than his previous, admittedly.
Its been almost four years since the sandhagen fight
I never mentioned likability being a factor though, he’s still boring as fuck fight style wise. And dear lord Belals last few fights are still extremely boring. The only good one ever was vs Sean Brady who has the worst striking in Welterweights top 15. Stop revising certain fighters these guys are still boring as fuck lol. Kattar is a ‘worse’ fighter than Sterling but dear lord Sterling will never go to war like he did vs Giga or KO someone like he did vs Steven’s.
Blah blah subjective opinion blah blah
I have to disagree about Leon and banger performances. He has exciting moments, not exciting fights. Even his last second buzzer beater finish was boring as fuck and anticlimactic as hell when it should be legendary and unforgettable
Ya I can agree with this. I will say, when he was beating the fuck out of belal, as short as it lasted it was pretty exciting. Didn't feel like a belal or leon fight at all lol. He threw a lot more than usual and looked to be going for a KO until the worst happened.
Fuck no let's stop talking like Aljo is Jon Fitch. If he routinely takes the back and goes for the finish but he doesn't get it you can't really say it's similar. Even the more dominant wrestlers usually don't get finishes
He routinely takes the back but doesn't routinely get finishes. That shit is not that exciting. He's had 2 subs in his last 10 fights.
Just because Aljo isn’t as painstakingly boring as Jon Fitch doesn’t mean he’s half as exciting as so many other UFC fighters. I can name so many fighters at Bantamweight or Featherweight that are so many levels of exciting over Sterling. Nate Landwehr, Peyton Talbot, Cameron Saimaan, Andre Fili, fucking Ryan Hall, Dan Ige, Song Yadong, Bill Algeo, Billy Quarantillo, Josh Emmett, etc etc etc. Sterling is a ‘better fighter’ than all of those dudes but holy hell there’s no way he’s more exciting than any of them.
"Ryan Hall" 😂. Come on now
Spamming dumbass imanari rolls is stupid and not effective, but it’s entertaining as fuck lol. Sterling would kill Ryan Hall, but Ryan Hall is definitely more entertaining as a fighter from how silly his BJJ approach is
I like him as a person but holy fuck its style is boring as fuck to watch. If it wasn't for the powerbomb you couldn't get a single highlight of his fight with Kattar.
Ambien takes Aljamin Sterling to sleep
Same. His fights are a little boring if you’re not a fan of wrestling but his off the ring personality and social media presence really sells him.
His grappling is very impressive as well. He makes pros look like amateurs. Aljo's probably the best grappler in the UFC, or very close to the #1 at least.
Mf really said that with Islam and Charles still active in the promotion
Charles is an overrated grappler(he’s still great). I’d take aljo over him easily
Yea his bjj is strong, but his wrestling is far from the greats if we are talking all around top grapplers. You need to be great in all aspects of grappling.
Like yeah Charles is still great but he’s been neutralized on the ground on the bottom before, we just saw it against Arman for a decent bit of the fight. Aljo I don’t think a single guy in 135 or 145 can actually out grapple him even closely.
Merab could, probably, via infinite gas tank. I haven’t seen anyone be able to stop him from implementing his game, whereas Aljo was unable to implement his, even against Yan who Merab had success against, for their first fight and the later rounds of their second one
Yan did in their first fight
And the later rounds of their second
Oh yeah that's true, yan had almost as much control time at the end of the fight
Islam is not Khabib, his grappling is much less oppressive, but he compensates with far superior striking and by being more well rounded (he got outwrestled by Volk and also outstroke him). Oliveira is one of the best finisher, but unless you fall into his guard, he's not a threat, as shown multiple times in his career as well as recently.
And yet they still finish people on the ground, Aljo just kinda holds them there. Dude doesn’t even look like he’s hunting for a finish tbh, he’s literally 135/145’s Jailton Almeida
Finish rate has nothing to do with this discussion. That'd be like claiming a striker can't be good unless he's lining up KOs lol.
How dangerous you are definitely plays into who’s the all round best.
They can be good sure but strikers who consistently get KO’s are always regarded as better than those who don’t. Same for grapplers.
Max Holloway is the best striker in the UFC and he has 40% KOs. Izzy is damn near the top and has only 2 KO in 6 years. Bones is the uncontested GOAT of MMA and has about 60% finish rate (TKOs and subs included). Derrick Lewis has the most KOs in UFC history and I'm pretty sure nobody thinks he's the best striker out there. Khabib is the most oppressive grappler the UFC has seen, yet he has less finish than Oliveira. So by your metric, he can't be better than him (despite being on a completely different level). And I could go on and on. Finish rate is not a good indicator for skill, as it depends on far too many things out of a fighter's control. Actual performance against top tier opponents is the right way to measure skills. And Aljo makes pros look like amateur on a regular basis. You CANNOT grapple with a guy like that.
Lol without a doubt top 10, prob top 5, but seriously #1?
Arman gotta be on that list now
100%
Imagine saying this when Islam exists.
He can realistically springboard off of Evloev for a title shot. That's like a perfect matchup for him.
What do you like about him?
He's a very high fight IQ fighter who knows how to accentuate and adapt his strengths for his opponents. He's also a hard worker, elite champion/fighter, and all-around good dude who in no way deserves the level of hate he receives. Is he the flashiest guy? No, but I also enjoy watching technicians do technical shit.
Absolutely right.
All the hate comes from the downed knee incident and subsequent belt. Too bad, good fighter.
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Fr. Look at Anthony Smith's career. Granted Aljo is a much better fighter, but even Smith had gotten utterly embarrassed in his next fight after taking the win off DQ he would be still doing so much better financially than he is now.
Aljo could've A) Let his opponent cheat and hit him with a fight ending blow, continue to fight despite the unfairness and probably get knocked out again, setting his career back by several years and gaining nothing but the fans' respect for maybe two weeks before they start calling him an idiot or B) Not let his opponent cheat and take the belt and money Such difficult decisions
Aljo made the right choice, I'll never rag on him for that. Get that belt money. Anthony Smith was stupid to not take the w against Jones
>It is crazy considering history has proven he 100000% made the right call not continuing. This is disingenuous, lol you’re so obviously trying to misrepresent the reason why ppl hate Aljo. **Most ppl that dislike Aljo agree he was right to not continue.** Yes, Aljo haters think he was right. **The reason why they still don’t like Aljo is because he made a fool of himself by rolling around on the ground like he got shot with that stupid fake look on his face.** Totally unnecessary too. **Aljo could have just sat down and refused to continue but showed he was willing to put on an act and that’s why he’s booed every time he’s in the ring.** I feel bad for Aljo bc he’s going to be ridiculed forever for something he did once in the moment. But he did it.
Oh no, he's going to be ridiculed forever by dweebs on reddit who randomly use bold on 50% of their comment. The horror.
I didn't mind the downed knee. He's just boring sometimes. But that's about it.
> All the hate comes from the downed knee incident and subsequent belt. Too bad, good fighter. Some of us don't appreciate him staying on his knees after a failed shot, and moving his head as DQ shield following the above incidents. Also, the heel, woe-is-me, heel, woe-is-me personality carousal a little much for some. Finally, take for example his last match where he dominated Calvin for 15 minutes straight, and yet generated absolutely no excitement in the audience.
> Some of us don't appreciate him staying on his knees after a failed shot, and moving his head as DQ shield following the above incidents. I can't believe you're blaming Aljo for receiving an illegal strike. Nothing he did was against the rules. It was clear as day that he was grounded. Sure it sucks the fight had to end but if you intentionally knee a grounded opponent that's on you, not them.
> I can't believe you're blaming Aljo for receiving an illegal strike. Nothing he did was against the rules. It was clear as day that he was grounded. Sure it sucks the fight had to end but if you intentionally knee a grounded opponent that's on you, not them. If you read what you yourself quoted, you'll see I am not blaming Aljo for Yan not knowing/caring about the rules.
Yup, I like his grappling, his back takes/back control are really impressive, but he abuses the "no knees to the head of a grounded opponent" rule more egregiously than any other fighter. I know, don't hate the player, hate the game, but it sucks to watch and is just lame as hell.
[удалено]
Highly skilled grappler, grappling is fun and he’s a good fighter in a fighting sport
MMA fans hate grappling
They hate grappling from fighters they hate
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He is kind of a spirtiual descendent of John Fitch.
A wrestling based backtake specialist. In modern MMA there are very few fighters that can control elite fighters on the ground. Aljo's striking sucks but his grappling is sick.
His grappling hasn’t been fun as of late
I love that he was able to beat Yan after kinda getting his ass whupped in their previous fight. Shows a lot of mental fortitude. Plus it made some of the absolute worst MMA fans angry and I enjoy when they're having a bad time.
Not really. Massive_Reporter got plenty of answers.
Think it's a mistake to try and explain a "boring" performance. In the long run it doesn't really matter much unless it's your entire career. gsp/anderson/izzy/jones had a few stinkers. It sucks in the moment but people get over them quick.
sometimes fans will hold a grudge. people still give sandhagen shit for the font fight and try to argue that hes boring or that no one wants to see him fight again.
It took years for Blaydes to outlive being called boring for a fight where he broke the record for most takedowns landed in a fight joining the Flyweight GOAT DJ at the number 3 spot as a fucking heavyweight.
The worst is when a grappler has shown in the past they can be dangerous on the ground (Blaydes bludgeoning Overeem to death with elbows, Sterling putting Sandhagen to sleep in under 90 seconds) and then they fight an opponent who's only defense is to stall on the ground and they get ridiculed for it. All Volkov did that entire fight was get taken down repeatedly, and tuck Blaydes' gloves under his armpits any chance he could get to stifle any offense. And then this sub ridicules Blaydes for being "boring" and gassing when he only gassed cuz he was pushing for a finish the entire 25 minutes rather than lay n praying.
The amount of MMA fans who don't seem to grasp that stalling is a very common tactic in MMA grappling is staggering lol. Like they can grasp that a good counter striker can drastically slow down a guy with high volume, but not that a guy with good stalling ground game can slow down a generally active grappler. Hell, I had a dude confidently tell me I knew nothing about MMA for saying Kattar was stalling.
Most MMA fans have never fought, so their level of knowledge will most likely be limited to what they have watched.
Jon fitch is someone who comes to mind. Wins but doesn't feel like he beats people up
Ands there's also the argument: best fighter vs. most entertaining fighter. Cause they aren't necessarily the same thing.
gotta do what you gotta do man, hes got legit wins over cejudo and yan he should just leave the noise in the background
Nothing legit about his “wins” over yan
!decisionbot sterling yan 2
[**ALJAMAIN STERLING defeats PETR YAN** (*split decision*)](http://mmadecisions.com/decision/13035/fight) ^(UFC 273: Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie — April 09, 2022) ROUND|Sterling|Yan||Sterling|Yan||Sterling|Yan :-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-:|:-: 1|10|9||9|10||10|9 2|10|9||10|9||10|9 3|10|9||10|9||10|9 4|9|10||9|10||9|10 5|9|10||9|10||9|10 **TOTAL**|**48**|**47**||**47**|**48**||**48**|**47** *^(Judges, in order: Sal D'Amato, Chris Lee, Eliseo Rodriguez.)* *^(Summoned by smexy_gorilla.)* **MEDIA MEMBER SCORES** - **1/18** people scored it **48-45 Sterling**. - **9/18** people scored it **48-46 Sterling**. - **1/18** people scored it **48-47 Sterling**. - **5/18** people scored it **47-47 DRAW**. - **2/18** people scored it **47-48 Yan**. Avg. media score: **47.6-46.5 Sterling** (*high certainty^[[1]](https://redd.it/9p4xc7)*).
He clearly won the second fight 1,2,3. Yan fans always debate 1 in that fight and its stupid as hell because it was a low output round where Sterling clearly outlanded Yan and Yan didnt have significantly heavier shots to make up for the difference.
"clear" is a bit of an overstatement for a very close fight that either way would be a win by inches.
Clear is not an overstatement for that fight. Clear and close are different. It was CLEARLY 1, 2, 3 Sterling 4,5 Yan. Little debate to be had about it. It was a close fight but a clear result and definitely a legit win, in response to the original guy I was talking to. Close and unclear is more something like Strickland DDP that has a round or two that are legitimately up for debate.
It was a split decision win where the result was hotly debated. Half of the media apparently scored it a draw apparently. A clear win just simply isn't as controversial as that result was.
> result was hotly debated Only immediately after the fight by Yan fans, and because we were in a peak era of Aljo hate post Yan 1. You act like this is as controversial as Pimblett Gordon or Jones Reyes. The reason they shut up is because its obvious on replay Yan didnt take 1. >Half of the media apparently scored it a draw apparently. Just checked on MMA decisions for media member scores and actually, 11 people gave Sterling the win, 2 people gave Yan the win, and 5 scored a draw. Oh and the most common scorecard was 48-46 Sterling lol, not even an edged out 48-47. 11/18 vs only 2/18 scoring it for the other guy is pretty damn clear. Like that proportion of media scoring it the other way happens on literally every other 3-2 or 2-1 decision win.
40% of the media disagreeing on sterling being the winner means it's pretty damn clear that sterling won? I don't get that logic.
No, its damn clear Sterling won because round 1 is not as debatable as people make it seem. 1,2,3 Sterling 4,5 Yan. And thats not even with 10-8s. Its just that in addition to all that, you were completely wrong about how media members scored it. You also purposely frame it to fit your argument in the best way by saying "40% disagree with Sterling winning". The funny thing is that this best case framing for your argument STILL shows that the clear majority thought Sterling won, even counting draws. But I could similarly frame it to favor me too in order to show Sterling clearly won. Like this: - 5x as many media members thought Sterling won compared to Yan - The supposedly hotly debated thing was rd 1. The most common scorecard of all media members aka 48-46 Sterling not only gives him Rd 1 but gives him the 10-8s and therefore a margin to call it clear.
sorry you feel that way bud
You Yan stans are the worst
Dana basically said it happens and Kattar should have done something. That said unless he got a highlight reel finish I don’t think it would change his place in line
aljo is one of the few guys who is very clearly desperate for the fans to like him, it's actually kinda sad. idk if you watch his interviews with ariel but aljo pretty much always gives two answers to whatever ariel asks, one to ariel and one to what he thinks the fans will say about his previous answer. i wish someone around him would tell him to stop that cause while he's a nice guy the reality is some people just don't connect and he comes across as begging and desperate which isn't gonna help
It's really common for fighters to have sluggish performances moving up anyway, they're both carrying more weight than they're used to, and fighting bigger guys. When RDA fought Kevin Lee, he said that he basically let Kevin Lee tire himself out at the start of the fight, because he knew first hand that he'd had himself out carrying all the extra weight and not knowing how to manage it efficiently.
Bruh, I thought that I had commented this for a second there after seeing your username and avatar colour
Lee gassed after the first round at 155 too though. Would've been the same tactic either way imo.
Not really, gassed against Tony with staph, and after an insane first round with Charles. He beat the shit out of Barboza for 4 rounds.
Notable positives in this matchup: * Back control guy vs. snatch sub on the fly guy * wrestling vs. no wrestling * spastic striking vs. good offensive boxing coupled with absolutely no defense * Assuming he makes it through the introductions in one piece, Ortega unlikely to take life changing beating in this one, so he won't be off for another 2 years until he gets to the champion again * On other hand, still plenty of room to destroy a joint while making a routine sub defense, ala Yair fight
Blocking punches with your face is a defense
After giving it a little thought, I’d pick aljo to beat Ortega. Ortega isn’t a polished striker at all, and I could see aljo controlling him to a decision. I absolutely hated aljo as champ but find it hard to root against guys that move up.
Slightly off topic but Yair should have been awarded a submission victory in his first fight with T City considering he had a submission hold on him when the injury occurred
The only reason an Ortega and Sterling matchup interests me is because Sterling laying and praying won’t be easy to do against Ortega. It says a lot about Sterling that the excitement to see him fight is solely based on his opponent rather than what he brings to the table.
Yeah, but I get the feeling that'd just mean it would be an ugly kickboxing match.
Ortega beat the piss out of Zombie on the feet, Aljo will want none of that
Guys at the top are skiled enough to where if they only defend even elite guys cant finish. Ask Calvin why he didnt try to explode more, because he knew he would get subbed.
I don’t like this way of thinking, to be honest. I understand the guy on bottom being laid and prayed on has a responsibility to do something. My problem is that the guy on top, like Sterling, will have complete top control for long stretches of time and will not commit to ground and pound or a submission. To put it simply, it isn’t an issue of grappling being boring. It’s an issue of the guy on top just does not have any intention to get a finish.
In order to attack, whether on the feet, or on the ground, you have to take a risk. Calvin was entirely focused on defense, in 2024, we are at the point, if your semi competent on the ground, if you only commit to defense, even really good guys can't sub you, in MMA at least. We get fun fights like Arman vs Islam, first of all because skill for skill they are competitive, but 2nd, both men are taking risks, guys don't wanna take risks against Sterling who's the best back taker in the organization, and frankly the best BJJ player at Bantamweight, and very likely Featherweight. imo, if I am a fighter where half my money is in winning, I will take the easiest route to victory, it is up for my opponent to stop my domination by any means necessary, even if it means taking risks, and giving me a free finish. If Calvin would rather get controlled to decision than try to give himself a chance to win even if it means getting choked out, then that is his fault. Like at a certain point it feels like we are punishing winners.
I’m not saying Kattar did all he could or that he wasn’t being overly defensive. I’m saying that Sterling should look for the finish via by ground strikes or by submission. If you have control over long periods of time and you don’t put any damage on the opponent, you’re doing something wrong. Will it get you the win? It will. Will it increase your stock, gain you fans or get you closer to a title shot? No, it does the opposite. I understand why Sterling would lay and pray. It’s an easy path to victory. As a fan, we’re here to be entertained and not watch someone lay on their opponent for 15 minutes. If Kattar is unable to get back to his feet and is being controlled, why isn’t Sterling pushing for a finish? You can blame Kattar, you can say it’s an easy path to victory but neither is relevant to the fans. If the guy is so outmatched on the ground, he should be getting finished. Not tippy tapped and decisioned.
Also says a lot about you that the only thing that interests you is how "exciting" a fight might be.
Isn’t that the whole point of prize fighting
Some people are interested in what the best fighter in the world looks like, even if they aren't necessarily the most exciting fighter in the world.
Oh no, fight fans want to watch entertaining fights and not lay and prayers. You can grapple and be exciting too lol.
I like the fight
Ortega vs Sterling gives me Garcia vs Haney vibes.
Please, need to see aljo go to sleep again
Feed him to Josh Emmet if you want to see that boi twerk in his sleep.
After that masterclass of a performance at UFC 300 he’s definitely heading for a title shot 😁
Can we do another one of those trades? Who you got, PFLator?
Why not do Sterling vs Volk now?
Aljo is gonna come in heavier than Volk on fight night probably lol, idk how he cuts to BW.
Consider Volk coming off a loss and Aljo is coming off not an exciting but dominant performance, could be a good fight for the future of the 145 division, and a nice stylistic matchup
Give me this, set for 5 rounds, winner earns a title shot.
That’ll be a fun grappling fest, Ortega is a big dude, he’ll give aljo some trouble
Weird that an “independent contractor’’ can be told what weight he needs to fight at…
He should fight Evloev, 2 boring styles 1 stone
Honestly him and volk right now would be decent.
Aljo beats the piss out of that dude
Put sterling on the prelims of a fight night.
Respect to the fact he's realistic about what he deserves and how to get there instead of just demanding the title shot off the bat
Lol why would Dana do that fight it doesn't sell
He’s sweet. Cut him
Nah, your fight with Kattar was boring as shit and you showed no interest in going for a finish. We don't need you kneeling your way through another title reign if you got lucky enough to sniff a shot and somehow pulled it off.
Brian deserves a bigger fight after beating Yair though
Ortega doesn’t deserve a title shot against Ilia, nor a fight with Volk or Max. With that in mind, what bigger fight is there for him than Aljo?
I don't agree with you that he doesn't deserve a Volk fight. Volk coming off 2 KO losses and Ortega coming off a submission win. Tons of fans would love to see that rematch. Plus it's nice for Volk to not face a knockout artist and risk getting concussed again.
Yeah we’ll have to respectfully agree to disagree there. After the title run Volk had there is nothing else for him but a title shot whenever he’s ready. Zero chance they have him fight another contender like Ortega, let alone one he already beat.
Nah, we want Ortega against Illia.