Aljamain Sterling now sits comfortably atop his perch at 135 pounds, waiting for the latest would-be successor to come along.
The Serra-Longo Fight team product unified the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight crown with a split decision over Petr Yan in the UFC 273 co-main event on April 9. Sterling currently finds himself on seven-fight winning streak, his longest run of sustained success since he started his pro career with 12 straight victories. In fact, he has not tasted defeat in more than four years.
As Sterling awaits word on his next assignment from UFC matchmakers, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied him to this point:
32: Years of age for Sterling, who was born on July 31, 1989 in Uniondale, New York.
8: Sterling victories by submission, accounting for 38% of his career total (21). His methods of choice: five rear-naked chokes, one arm-triangle choke, one guillotine choke and one kneebar. Sterling holds two other victories by knockout or technical knockout, 10 more by decision and another by disqualification.
88: Seconds needed for Sterling to submit Cory Sandhagen with a rear-naked choke at UFC 250 on June 6, 2020. It remains his fastest finish to date.
52: Professional rounds completed by Sterling as a mixed martial artist. He has gone the distance on 12 different occasions and carries a 10-2 record in those bouts.
12: Consecutive calendar years in which Sterling has fought at least once. In addition to his 1-0 mark in 2022, he went 5-0 in 2011, 2-0 in 2012, 1-0 in 2013, 2-0 in 2014, 2-0 in 2015, 0-1 in 2016, 2-2 in 2017, 2-0 in 2018, 2-0 in 2019, 1-0 in 2020 and 1-0 in 2021.
1,312: Total strikes landed by Sterling as a UFC bantamweight, placing him second on the promotion’s all-time list at 135 pounds. Only T.J. Dillashaw (1,509) has been credited with more.
2: UFC appearances in which Sterling has connected with at least 100 significant strikes. He landed 101 of them in a unanimous decision over Jimmie Rivera at UFC on ESPN 1 in February 2019 and set a personal best when he found the mark with 174 of them in a unanimous decision over Pedro Munhoz at UFC 238 a little less than four months later.
5: Organizations in which Sterling has plied his mixed martial arts trade. He has gone 13-3 in the UFC, 5-0 in Cage Fury Fighting Championships, 1-0 in Ring of Combat, 1-0 in Extreme Fight Club and 1-0 Urban Conflict Championships.
1: Sterling loss by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 33% of his career total (three). He was felled by a knee strike from former World Series of Fighting champion Marlon Moraes just 67 seconds into the first round of their UFC Fight Night 123 pairing on Dec. 9, 2017. Sterling has been saddled with two other losses by decision.
.713: Cumulative winning percentage between the three opponents—Moraes, Bryan Caraway and Raphael Assuncao—who have beaten Sterling. They sport a combined record of 72-28-1.