Former champion Aljamain Sterling is taking a page out of the Conor McGregor playbook ahead of UFC 300.
Sterling heads to Saturday’s marquee event to face Calvin Kattar in a key featherweight contest. The bout is part of the ESPN prelims live from the T-Mobile Arena just outside of Las Vegas.
For Sterling, this is a chance to get the sour taste of defeat out of his mouth. The 34-year-old lost the bantamweight belt to Sean O’Malley last August via TKO, ending his nine-fight win streak.
During that run, Sterling scored two submission victories, with one coming in the first round and the other in second. For his bout with Kattar, he is forecasting much of the same.
“Calvin Kattar is a really tough dude,” Sterling said (thanks to BloodyElbow.com for the quotes). “I don’t really foresee myself finishing him in the first round unless I can get to his back really early.
“If I have to make a prediction, I’m going to say second round submission. I think I can get him out there with a submission and possibly an anaconda choke.”
Aljamain Sterling Has Eight Submission Wins To His Credit
In his 2020 submission win over Cory Sandhagen, Sterling locked in a rear-naked choke. He used a Suloev stretch in 2018 vs. Cody Stamman.
Sterling has a pair of 2015 submission wins in the UFC to his credit by guillotine choke and arm-triangle choke. He has never scored an anaconda choke victory.
“Even if I don’t get the anaconda, I think he lets me get to his neck,” Sterling said. “I just want to get on his neck anyway that I can. I think that I can get an anaconda choke and put him away.”
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