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The Clinch

United States of America “Funk Master” 2014-2026 · 70 rounds on file

Aljamain Sterling

18-5-0 W-L-D in this database

Aljamain Sterling, photograph by MMAnytt
Strike accuracy 1,407/2,675
Takedown accuracy 56/174
Sig. strikes / round 20.1
Control / round 1:34
Inside the distance 33% 6 of 18 wins
Height
5′7″170.2 cm
Reach
71″180.3 cm
Leg reach
--
Stance
Orthodox
Age
3731 JUL 1989
Listed weight
145 lb65.8 kg
Positional Controller Automatically assigned from data across 23 fights - 7.5 takedown attempts and 31% control time per 15 minutes.

Who they have fought

Every completed bout, grouped by the opponent's style.

Grappling 11 9-2-0 vs 1594 avg
Positional Controller 7 6-1-0
Submission Grappler 4 3-1-0
Hybrid 8 7-1-0 vs 1597 avg
Well-Rounded 8 7-1-0
Striking 4 2-2-0 vs 1562 avg
Distance Striker 4 2-2-0

Opponent styles are assigned from their own fight data, not from a training background. They describe how those opponents have fought. Bars scale against 11 bouts, the largest group.

The career, in order

One bar per bout, oldest on the left. Height is the significant strikes landed in that fight.

22 FEB 2014 - beat Cody Gibson · Decision (Unanimous) 16 JUL 2014 - beat Hugo Viana · Technical Knockout 18 APR 2015 - beat Takeya Mizugaki · Submission 10 DEC 2015 - beat Johnny Eduardo · Submission 29 MAY 2016 - lost to Bryan Caraway · Decision (Split) 28 JAN 2017 - lost to Raphael Assuncao · Decision (Split) 15 APR 2017 - beat Augusto Mendes · Decision (Unanimous) 29 JUL 2017 - beat Renan Barao · Decision (Unanimous) 09 DEC 2017 - lost to Marlon Moraes · Technical Knockout 21 APR 2018 - beat Brett Johns · Decision (Unanimous) 08 SEP 2018 - beat Cody Stamann · Submission 17 FEB 2019 - beat Jimmie Rivera · Decision (Unanimous) 08 JUN 2019 - beat Pedro Munhoz · Decision (Unanimous) 06 JUN 2020 - beat Cory Sandhagen · Submission 06 MAR 2021 - beat Petr Yan · Disqualification 09 APR 2022 - beat Petr Yan · Decision (Split) 22 OCT 2022 - beat TJ Dillashaw · Technical Knockout 06 MAY 2023 - beat Henry Cejudo · Decision (Split) 19 AUG 2023 - lost to Sean O'Malley · Technical Knockout 13 APR 2024 - beat Calvin Kattar · Decision (Unanimous) 07 DEC 2024 - lost to Movsar Evloev · Decision (Unanimous) 23 AUG 2025 - beat Brian Ortega · Decision (Unanimous) 25 APR 2026 - beat Youssef Zalal · Decision (Unanimous)

Won Lost Draw / no contest

What they do with a round

Summed over 70 rounds across 23 of 23 bouts - the ones the corpus has per-round observations for.

Per round

Sig. strikes landed 20.1
Sig. strikes absorbed 10.1
Takedowns landed 0.8
Knockdowns 0.0
Sub. attempts 0.2
Control time 1:34 of each 5:00 round

Accuracy

Sig. strikes 53% 1,407/2,675
Takedowns 32% 56/174
Opponents’ accuracy 41% 710/1,739

Where the strikes land

Head 50% 703
Body 31% 443
Leg 19% 261

And from where

At distance 67% 941
In the clinch 15% 209
On the ground 18% 257

How the bouts ended

KO / TKO 2 won Technical Knockout · 2-2
Submission 4 won Submission · 4-0
Decision 11 won Decision (Unanimous) · 9-1 Decision (Split) · 2-2
Other 1 won Disqualification · 1-0

Every bout

Most recent first. Struck and absorbed are significant strikes.

Date Opponent Result Method End Struck Absorbed Event
25 APR 2026 Youssef Zalal Won Decision (Unanimous) R5 5:00 46 35 UFC Fight Night: Sterling vs. Zalal
23 AUG 2025 Brian Ortega Won Decision (Unanimous) R5 5:00 124 55 UFC Fight Night: Walker vs. Zhang
07 DEC 2024 Movsar Evloev Lost Decision (Unanimous) R3 5:00 12 8 UFC 310: Pantoja vs. Asakura
13 APR 2024 Calvin Kattar Won Decision (Unanimous) R3 5:00 39 8 UFC 300: Pereira vs. Hill
19 AUG 2023 Sean O'Malley Lost Technical Knockout R2 0:51 17 25 UFC 292: Sterling vs. O'Malley
06 MAY 2023 Henry Cejudo Won Decision (Split) R5 5:00 135 99 UFC 288: Sterling vs. Cejudo
22 OCT 2022 TJ Dillashaw Won Technical Knockout R2 3:44 72 8 UFC 280: Oliveira vs. Makhachev
09 APR 2022 Petr Yan Won Decision (Split) R5 5:00 62 63 UFC 273: Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie
06 MAR 2021 Petr Yan Won Disqualification R4 4:29 97 86 UFC 259: Blachowicz vs. Adesanya
06 JUN 2020 Cory Sandhagen Won Submission R1 1:28 2 1 UFC 250: Nunes vs. Spencer
08 JUN 2019 Pedro Munhoz Won Decision (Unanimous) R3 5:00 174 105 UFC 238: Cejudo vs. Moraes
17 FEB 2019 Jimmie Rivera Won Decision (Unanimous) R3 5:00 101 24 UFC Fight Night: Ngannou vs. Velasquez
08 SEP 2018 Cody Stamann Won Submission R2 3:42 33 12 UFC 228: Woodley vs. Till
21 APR 2018 Brett Johns Won Decision (Unanimous) R3 5:00 89 27 UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Lee
09 DEC 2017 Marlon Moraes Lost Technical Knockout R1 1:07 3 7 UFC Fight Night: Swanson vs. Ortega
29 JUL 2017 Renan Barao Won Decision (Unanimous) R3 5:00 71 19 UFC 214: Cormier vs. Jones 2
15 APR 2017 Augusto Mendes Won Decision (Unanimous) R3 5:00 83 30 UFC on FOX: Johnson vs. Reis
28 JAN 2017 Raphael Assuncao Lost Decision (Split) R3 5:00 52 39 UFC on FOX: Shevchenko vs. Pena
29 MAY 2016 Bryan Caraway Lost Decision (Split) R3 5:00 32 9 UFC Fight Night: Almeida vs Garbrandt
10 DEC 2015 Johnny Eduardo Won Submission R2 4:18 23 4 UFC Fight Night: Namajunas vs. VanZant
18 APR 2015 Takeya Mizugaki Won Submission R3 2:11 32 13 UFC on FOX: Machida vs Rockhold
16 JUL 2014 Hugo Viana Won Technical Knockout R3 3:50 62 15 UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs Miller
22 FEB 2014 Cody Gibson Won Decision (Unanimous) R3 5:00 46 18 UFC 170: Rousey vs McMann

Photographs on this page