Aljamain Sterling on a similar path to success as mentor UFC Champ Jon Jones

It might be hard to not compare the start of Aljamain Sterling’s mixed martial arts career with that of UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

After all, the similarities are all there. Like Jones, Sterling (3-0) has started his career off in Ithaca, N.Y. at Team BombSquad. He just finished up a successful collegiate wrestling career at SUNY-Cortland where he was a two-time All-American.  He earned the nickname “The Funk Master” from his unorthodox wrestling style. And like Jones, he fights all the time having fought three times in three months this year.

On top of that, it’s because of Jones that Sterling got started in MMA in the first place. And after earning the Ring of Combat National bantamweight championship this past weekend in New Jersey, this 21-year-old finds himself trying to carve his own path but has some big shoes to fill.

“Honestly when I hear it, it’s a lot of pressure for me to walk in someone’s shadow like that,” Sterling told MMADiehard’s White Belt radio. “To me he’s one of the best fighters in the world right now. I love watching him fight. He took me into the sport, into the gym. I’ve always admired him and looked up to him. That’s a big task, big shoes to fill. I’m trying to do things my own way. Hopefully I can get to that point, to that stage and be compared to someone like that.”

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