ALJAMAIN STERLING

Hailing from Uniondale, New York, Aljamain Sterling built his combat sports foundation on high school wrestling. Fighting out of the Serra-Longo Fight Team, the orthodox competitor earned a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt under Matt Serra, developing a highly regarded grappling system. The American climbed to the pinnacle of the sport by capturing the UFC bantamweight championship, securing several successful title defenses during his reign before deciding to move up to the featherweight division.

The former champion entered UFC 300 with an established professional record of 16-5-0. His previous five matchups at bantamweight began with a disqualification win over Petr Yan to capture the title, followed by a split-decision victory in their rematch. He then secured a technical knockout over T.J. Dillashaw and a split-decision win against Henry Cejudo. In his final outing before this event, he lost his championship belt to Sean O'Malley via a second-round technical knockout.