#94: The Road to Redemption: Aljamain Sterling MMA and Beyond

This week on Escaping the Drift, host John Gafford sits down with UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling. He opens up about growing up in a large family on Long Island and how wrestling helped put him on the path to MMA. Sterling discusses meeting Jon Jones in college and being inspired to start his fighting career.

Sterling shares stories from his early amateur and pro fights as he worked his way up the ranks. He talks about the grind of being a low-level UFC fighter and having to work as a gym teacher. Sterling also opens up about the highs and lows of his UFC title wins and losses. He gets candid about the controversy surrounding his first title fight.

The champ dives into his business interests outside of fighting like real estate and starting his own rum company. Sterling discusses the importance of financial literacy for athletes. He also shares his goals for competing at bantamweight and featherweight in the future. It's a fascinating look into the life and career of one of the UFC's most decorated champions.

Highlights:

"I don't understand the world, how it operates in this manner. Like, we see the same thing repeating itself over and over and over. And it's just like to me, Well, why aren't we learning from those mistakes so that history doesn't repeat itself so that we could do things a little bit smarter or better."

"I think I've been able to at least learn from my, my ancestors in the sense of fighting, learn for these guys, the forefathers and things that they did things that worked. Oh, less damage, longer career wrestling, okay, if I can get the fight, get different finishes. fan favorite. That's what people want to see."

"I do think the UFC should do a little bit more of that. The only thing is, maybe they should put the course out on video. And this way is not like they need to spend a bunch of money every single time to hold these events, just here's the resource."

Timestamps:

00:00:Introduction
03:22:Family
07:18:Gang Affiliated Neighborhoods
13:28:Goals & Obstacles
17:03:Athletic Path
24:15:UFC Fights
34:47:Negativity Into Positivity
44:54:Financial Management
53:45:Rum Brand
56:55:The Future