UFC Fighter Aljamain Sterling Interview: Becoming The Funk Master

We have right here on the TSC news line. He’s one of the top bantamweight s– in the world UFC fighter the man with one of the coolest nicknames around the Funkmaster al Jemaine Sterling and how’s it going not bad. He’s had a full day for a busy day of training and I just work. So you’re definitely keeping a busy schedule froze. I don’t know you train with Matt Serra and Ray Longo and those guys have put together a pretty impressive team and they have some decorated backgrounds in their own right? What’s the like training under them. Well, I like to refer to us as the Long Island stud-muffins, but is a great.

It’s great training great atmosphere one of the reasons why I actually coach a lot more at the gym is because we the one pieces puzzle. I felt like we’ve been missing was that team training where you can’t kind of get everyone together. We do a lot of individual ice training and as you can see you have a lot of individual success. We’re not a very big team by any means. I mean, we’ve had Pete Drago. So a truck Gordon Chris Weidman al Iaquinta myself and Luke kuhmo Matt Serra. So we don’t have a ton of guys that have come out of here going into the UFC.

But it’s such a small tight-knit community everything. We do is in a lot of individualized training Pat work with Rey running hill sprints. We bring in Russells, particularly for that specific person. And we try to tell everything to that fighter whoever’s got that fight coming up the most that we do team team wise is BJJ and I’m running together. So we run our Hill spreads together or we’ll work out at the same time, but we’re doing separate things getting ourselves prepared for separate fights. So that is this is my way to help build up the younger guys coming up in our gym and I think it’s been working pretty pretty well.

So far a lot of these guys don’t have rustling never rustled and I’m building these guys up, you know, alongside with Rey and Matt Serra. So, we’re gonna have some security guys coming out of this gym, you know, and I want to say probably in a year or two. So you grew up in upstate New York correct. No, I’m from Long Island stud muffin. Okay. Okay. Okay cuz because you know, the internet lies sometimes did my research on you there is a Cortland New York Island. Yeah. Yeah. I think it’s silly I’ve tried to change that. I’ve emailed people. I don’t know, like dude. I’m not from Cortland New York, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong wrong with Courtland Courtland, but I’m a Long Island guy born and raised parents from Jamaica, but born and raised Long Island guy.

Okay. So, what was your first love growing up in terms of athletics cuz you’re an MMA fighter right now? Yeah. Yeah, a standout wrestling career before he got into mixed martial arts what first drew you into playing sports. Well, I grew up playing a wide range of sports primarily basketball and football and then I eventually moved over to not football soccer. I keep calling football. That’s what we call football and like other pendulous soccer. So soccer basketball basketball was always the first love though. And moved on to baseball. I didn’t really like that started running to try got any like the idea of running for fund that wasn’t really fun to me and I tried volleyball I’ve tried everything man.

And then, you know, it’s too short for basketball. It’s a little too small undersized for football, you know, I was playing football then rustling and cutting wait. So, I’ll get big bulk up and then I just shrink all over again. I don’t think anybody needs a one hundred and twelve pounder football player in high school. So, and I got cut from the basketball team after the first day I made the first day of tryouts the second day I got cut and then the coach told me to come out you’re never gonna be told in five foot five and I was like, you know what maybe maybe you’re on to something and I went to my first wrestling practice and it was just pretty natural.

I had fun doing it. And I was like, man, this is fun. I could like pick these guys and slam them and not get in trouble when I get suspended. So that’s my way of, you know, keeping out of the streets and staying out of trouble, you know, my brothers were one of my brothers was a gang member growing up. And I got caught up with that a little bit, but you know, I think wrestling is what honestly in my opinion saved my life. And held Jimmy sports in general, but wrestling helped really push me towards school and Here I am now and I hear wrestling is a phenomenal base.

And obviously, it’s a phenomenal base these days in mixed martial arts in terms of takedown takedown defense being able to dictate where the fight goes, but from a mental standpoint? I know people that Russell right now and it’s just, you know, between the weight cut and making your commitments and everything else all the time and dedication that goes into it. I feel like it teaches him a certain amount of discipline and helps develop maturity would you say that 100%. You know, you have to truly want to do it want to make the weight class to do too. And you have to actually care about if you didn’t care you want to do it.

You know, it’s a hard enough sport, as it is just to do. So for you to do everything in fact, they’re in the dieting and the extra running the extra jump ropes that you got to do the extra practices bringing people into to lose that extra two three pounds that you got to make just to compete the next day it takes a lot of sacrifice a lot of commitment, especially where those two days three a torment swear. You make way and you got to hold your weight throughout the day and eat just enough that you don’t get too heavy. So that you can make awake for the next day if you were one of those guys who are probably gonna make move on and advance in the tournament.

So, it was very it was one of those things that tested you a lot mentally. I remember one time my coach made me coming from Thanksgiving. I wrestled 133, I came back. I was 20 pounds overweight and I made the weight class. I made the whelen 133 in two days in two days and it was the most ridiculous thing. I think I’ve ever done in my lifetime the most challenging thing and you know, it broke me at the very end. And then the worst part about it is my coach dhinam arrest me. He put the backup in and he was actually the starter, but I beat him a couple times.

So I was technically the starter, but he wanted him to start it that’s a long story another story, but, he put the guy in and I was hoping I was ready to quit ready to leave and it’s one of those. Yeah, it tested you, man, especially in the college level. There’s only one guy who could start. It’s only one guy who got sent to the NCAA’s and to be that guy to be that front runner. It’s so you have to put in a lot of time a lot of work especially for a kid who started wrestling in tenth grade never went to the state tournament, you know, I’m Russa I’m competing against these guys who have all of these credentials and I’m like I’m the underdog, you know.

So, I’ve been on the dole pretty much my entire life. And it’s one of those things. I kind of used to motivate me a few of my fire to keep on going keep push. I never want anything and I came from shore took second in the county tournament. That was the state qualifier and never went to States. I was a spot away from getting a wild-card to go didn’t get it went to college. It was the first seed in the tournament, you know, and there’s so many things, you know, and I lost in the first round and I’ve never won. You know, I’ve all American twice, but to win that UFC gold at the end of my career before the end of my career.

I should say. I think that would just make everything that much sweeter and bring it all and to just bring it all together the right time for me now how to all come together for you in MMA where you want to those people that maybe watch like the old Ultimate Fighter. And I go, this is pretty cool. I should try it. Did you stumble upon somebody I did read some things online, but based on what we talked about with where you were where you grew up obviously there’s some misinformation out there who tree went to MMA. Once you become aware of it and what made you want to say, you know what I’ll get punched in the face.

Well, Jon Jones is the guy said you are right about that. He is the guy who actually allowed me the opportunity to train while still in school still finishing up college still finishing on my college career with wrestling and he gave me the opportunity to come down to Jim Wright where he transferred. So he left he dropped out of school. I transferred schools and he happened to be training right around the write down the road from where I was so I hit him up on MySpace when myspace was popular at the time went down. And I haven’t stopped training since, you know, I’ve always had a just curiosity about the sport because I used to scroll through the channels back in a day and it would be on TV and I never knew like I didn’t understand how to use a TV Guide.

That’s one. So I’m just young kid don’t know how to use a TV Guide, but I’ll skip through channels and I hope I’m just hoping I can find it. And I’ve been hooked ever since that. But I never gave it a thought like maybe this is something I could do. But when I saw someone that actually knew what the college went for a semester and I saw what he was doing. I was like, man, this guy’s having success. He’s six and all the time. I’m thinking. I just got to the UFC I was like, yeah, I want to try this thing out too, man. Like cuz he showed me a lot of stuff pressing wise, you know, he was a phenomenal standout wrestler himself and I thought we had similar body types and I just thought, you know what if the stuff he could do I feel like there’s no reason why I can’t do any of that stuff and even today that I feel like people kind of compare me to him a lot and early on in my career as the mini Jon bones Jones.

And I don’t know if I lived up to the hype I guess not. But I think you know, we’re all different men here. He’s more of a I don’t know. I came to say he’s more of a striker more for grappling, he does it he does it all. So, follow my own footsteps my own path. And created my own way, what are your thoughts and everything that he’s going through right now. He’s a guy that, you know, I covered very early in his career was actually the first live you see we have recovered here was when he won the title from Shogun. And you know, we’re thinking.

It’s the dawn of a new era. I mean just from my eyes alone, you know, he’s the best fighter I’ve ever seen, but obviously he’s been marred a lot of situations. He’s put himself in a lot of bad situations. We don’t know what’s gonna happen following this latest you saw a failure you have any thoughts on what he’s going through and what do you think where you think it’s gonna go be at especially being a fighter now that currently does go through SATA testing. Yeah, you know what John’s always gonna be my boy he’s always gonna be the homie, but I feel like there’s no way.

You don’t know what’s what you’re taking what’s going in your system. That’s a little funny to me. That’s the only thing that’s really funny to me. But the same time it’s kind of like, how does he feel how does he pass all his tests. And then the tests right after the fight he feels I just don’t understand the logic behind that. So, at least to my understanding peds work you have to get on a cycle you have to take it consistently for a certain time period and then you cycle up for the testing to not get caught up by the testing the people with the testers, I should say.

And in order to get the benefits. You have to do it with like a few weeks before the event at least that’s to my knowledge. So, it’s either. He was doing it before the event or something is wrong with the testing that was done and I’m no scientist. I’m no expert. So, I can’t blame him. I don’t know. This is just it’s just kind of weird cuz it’s kind of like how convenient can it possibly be that two times. You messed up by doing something that you didn’t know like the whole thing like the pills and all Mike. I don’t know. I don’t know it’s very messy very tricky very weird.

But like always he’s gonna overcome it as he always does if he gets the ban for four years. I think his career will be done. I don’t think there’s any reason for him to come back. I think he’s made enough money throughout the course of his career and if he’s smart and if he’s invested. I think he has some smart people around him in a circle that he won’t need to fight again. It’s not kind of mccredle money, but south floyd may. Well, the money, but I’m pretty sure. He’s made some some pretty good coin doing us through his and make career for sure. Now, and I heard that you sought a testing is no joke.

We’ve seen it be no joke when it comes to people that have been caught have been flagged for violations, but what we don’t always hear about is how you have to let them know what your whereabouts are what you’re doing. You know, the time of day, you know, them randomly showing up at your door. I mean, I’m sure you as a queen fighter appreciates the fact that, you know, they’re trying to keep the sport Queen and everything, but just how intense is that drug testing and that whole schedule around it. It can be a little much, but at the end of the day, if you want to play on the eve on an evil level.

You know, even level playing field is kind of counties have to deal with it. The only thing with the you saw the testing is like I know I don’t take anything. So, for me, it’s kind of like if my eggs my test samples were to ever come back positive. I’m looking at them like there’s no way in hell, you know. So, it’s kind of like I don’t know if that’s something that could be going on with John, you know, it’s and Don Frye did an interview. It was very interesting point that he brought up and he said you saw that can catch whoever. They want to catch.

And I kind of have to agree with that. I’m not saying Assad is, you know, not about integrity and all that. But at the same time it’s kind of like you never you don’t know how can you know, you’re putting your trust in someone else that they’re doing the right thing. And you never know. Maybe it’s like a thing with when it comes to betting or gambling like who knows? What’s going on behind those doors. I feel like this should be some way or someone should be able to kind of not see. But verify that the samples were handled the right way. I mean, I’m just making this more complex, of course, but at the same time.

Like more Trent. You just say more trainers? Yeah, cuz then you take my stay come to my house. I sit down or for 20 minutes. I, you know, I take my blood and after they take my blood they pack everything up. Yeah, okay, everything’s packed up below school. You didn’t touch it whatever and then we get there. I don’t know what happens when he gets there. Nobody knows what happens when it gets to the lab. So who’s to say everything is being followed to the tea, you know, crossing the t’s down eyes to the procedure the 100% the way it’s supposed to be done and my only issue and only thing that I will say, but at the same time I do truly believe there are still about 60 to 70% of fighters that are still finding ways to cheat and it’s just a game of how can I find a new way to cheat the system until we get caught and then we got to find a different way to cheat the system again.

And by time, then those guys made their money in a long gone and out of the sport and they’re like peace see you later, I take my duffel bag of money and I’m gone. So, you know, credit get all kudos to those guys. But I just can’t see. I just couldn’t do something like that to my body, I don’t know like the transparency would be a lot more peace of mind for these guys like if John would say we’d get like see his testing right there. And then them testing it. I don’t know. I don’t know. Maybe I’m overthinking it, but at the same time is, you know, you guys?

I know a lot of people are thinking, John has to be the dumbest guy, right? I know you I know how many people probably saw those headlines. And that’s the first thing that they said, this guy’s an idiot complete can’t get out of his own way, but at the same time when you think about it. Do you do. We really believe he is that dumb to go do that and fail, you know, just the series of the orders of the event. It just makes no sense and make it literally makes no sense, right? You could also have been I mean? Yeah, an instance of proven guilty.

He’s gets his due process could be your bad advice as well. You know, from understand that’s a drug that supposedly leaves your system relatively quickly. So, you know, turmoil. Yeah. Yeah. So, it could be bad advice. I don’t know. But yeah, I mean, hopefully it works out for him. But yeah, not another good situation. I do appreciate that an in-depth look at the USANA testing though because I feel like it not enough fans. I really know what goes into I mean, that’s not another full-time job. But that’s another thing you have to worry about in addition to training and weight cutting and yeah and everything else.

So, you trained with. So when you hooked up with Jon Jones. I you trained with them. I’m assuming this is for his old team Bob’s bomb squad. Yeah. Okay, so you trained there did your thing when did you make the transition back home in Long Island. Well, I was done with rustling and I coached for two years and the second year I had to make a choice. And I didn’t feel like the team and a coaching the I feel like they weren’t really pro fighter anymore. I don’t think they were ever really profile maybe when they were like over in the barnyard, but I feel like once we moved into a gym it became more corporate and I just wasn’t feeling the energy.

I wasn’t feeling, the vibe anymore. I feel like they didn’t really care if we really got better or not because one the fighters don’t pay anything. I remember that was like the infamous quote that sticks out of my mind fighters don’t pay anything they don’t pay my bills. I’m like, all right. I get that but at the same time this gym was pretty much started based around us, you know, being there and being the guys who’s gonna be around and teaching classes and stuff like that and being the fighters the faces of the gym, so to speak. And I just I didn’t see any growth.

I didn’t see any real honest future and I had to be honest with myself and I made a big decision. I was gonna have to go back home to Long Island. I was gonna go to Florida to go train or I was gonna move out to California and find a gym out there. So, you ended up finding Sarah Longo where are you aware them before he got linked up. Yeah, you know, that was actually pretty funny because Chris Weidman was at my third pro fight at the ring of combat and I mean, it was kind of it was probably my worst fight ever. It was kind of similar to the cowboy fight except there was like zero punches and like zero kicks that I threw really I would just rusted a guy to death.

We just he was content with wrestling with me and we’re just rolling around losing position. And I was just so exhausted, but it was a sloppy fight and I he came up to me as a bro and true a Long Island guy. It was like I was like, yeah, I was like, what are you doing all the way upstage. You should come down here train with us. I was like, you know, I appreciate our love to I’m just still finishing up school. I can’t just drop out of school, you know, I started something and I want to make sure I finish it. That’s just the way I am and I didn’t, you know anything?

He’s like alright when you’re done kind of talk to me. And I reached out to him on MySpace took my food it not myspace Facebook, it took me a few days to reach back to get back to me. But he got back. I told must come down and come back home was like, I’m not sure if you remember me, but he did and I came down. Try it out this gym, I try to Long Island may and I tried out Bellmore kickboxing and I think the best fit that I found after meeting everybody interviewing them and seeing the team atmosphere and all that. I think I told myself.

I said, this is a team. I need to join this team. I need to be with and I think I made the best decision. I could have made. Yeah, you’ve obviously had quite a bit of success. Bob sure, it must have been a pain for years to have to fight in New Jersey as opposed to fighting in your home state in New York? I mean finally over the last year MMA has been legalized here how happy are you that all this BS politics is finally out of the way I’m extremely happy about it now, the only thing they got to do is lift that ban for me to fight and then I’ll be happy.

So I can fight in my own backyard. So for me, it’s still not really legalized in my mind because I can’t I could compete everywhere else and stuff in New York, which is kind of silly, but I think they were I think they’ll do the right thing and review my case one more time and make sure, you know, the hometown kid can actually fight his hometown how’d you get the nickname Funkmaster my Russell style, man is dirty. You don’t want to shoot on these legs you shoot on these legs usually gonna get twisted up in a pretzel or something and people say my legs are like arms and they’re like hands I use my feet like hands I call them feet arms the ole Anderson Silva feet arms and as far as being outgoing like you are on social media and you know, on podcast and in this interview, right here has always kind of been your personality or did when you were growing up.

Is there somebody like pop culture or sports that you kind of looked up to that was like flamboyant and kind of influenced you to do that. I think I’ve been pretty outgoing when I was a younger kid, you know, I liked it. I like to meet people, I was never shy to meet people. I was a little bit of a more of a hard-ass. I would say that I think I was a lot not meaner. Yeah, I don’t know. I think I had more of a little bit of an attitude problem back back then, but I definitely didn’t mind meeting people. But I think now I kind of learned as you get older.

You learn how the world works. And you kind of have to change your ways and kind of adapt to fit in and so you can get places in life, you know, but I this is me. You know, this is how I am, you know, I can’t really fake being being happy. I, you know, I feel like what if you’re not happy in your life. Then you got some serious things that you need to fix in your life and find out why you’re not happy in your life, you know, and if you need to trim some fat from the fat man. That’s what you got to do sometimes and that’s what you gotta do and at the end of the day number is always gonna be you and no one’s gonna look out for number one like yourself for sure.

Well said. You mentioned boxing on your Twitter feed in this interview? You mentioned also possibly grappling while you’re waiting for a fight can we also see in pro wrestling because it seemed tailor-made for that as far as the athleticism in the mic skills. I said, you know, I’ve done a few guys have done Shayna Baszler. I mean, they, you know, they’re doing pretty well. Yeah, I have thought about pro wrestling before even my friends back in high school a you say yeah. What you gonna do when you finished wrestling in high school, you’re going to be a WWE. I’m like, nah, man like that stuff’s fake.

I want do the raw stuff and hurt people. Okay, that’s me talking back then, but now I’m like, yeah, my, you know, I could see myself doing it. I think back then was more of a maturity thing and kind of looking at it. Like I can’t take myself serious, I probably still gonna take myself series doing it, but I think it would be hilarious. And I think I could actually probably pull it off, which would be the funny part about it, but I don’t know. We’ll see let’s see what I mean I am NOT gonna rule anything out. I have options, I’m gonna keep all the doors open when did you realize that you were no longer in wrestling when you got to MMA like, what was a I guess a wake-up call for you.

When you step into the ring or the cage. The wake-up call was when I went to go shoot on a guy and he threw a knee. It was an amateur fire bro, I went a shot on this guy. He was on a four fight win streak. He was I think it was at 145. I shot in and I went to this fight with no corner. I drove out there by myself, it’s all the way in New Hampshire. I drove out there by myself combat zone 26 or something like that I shoot on this guy? I feel like a.j I’m doing the answers over. I’m moving around.

I don’t like to jump in switch kick to the body because I think they said we couldn’t throw a head kick. So something like that. So then I thought I jump me switch kick to the body, I back up and I’m pumping the jab pumping the jammed. I don’t know what I’m doing I had no striking instructor and then I shoot it. I love a changed heart. Like I love a change. So hard that he almost caught me with like an uppercut and then I shot in love with chain and shot in again. He threw a knee and hit me right in my collarbone and never felt the same ever since then.

And then even after the fight in between rounds, I couldn’t feel it then I talked about in the second round and after I couldn’t even like celebrate cuz I was hurting so bad. And I was like, man, this is this isn’t definitely different than what I expected because I was used as his going in there and they’re smashing guys, you know, it happened. So easily in that fight. I mean, I got the finish, but it didn’t happen the way I thought was gonna be like, you know, just walk walk in walk out and then I had another fight that was pro and I took the guy down and he started smashing my head with elbows cuz I kept my head down.

I always want to like protect the moneymaker like I’m trying to throw these baby rabbit punches and he’s taking his hand and he’s throwing elbows at the top of my head. I’m like, bro, what is going on right now. This is like is this leaving legal. I know it’s legal, but my I’m like, oh, this is not legal this can’t be legal right now. But yeah, I realized I was in a fight real quick. So, was that collarbone, the worst injury. You’ve suffered an MMA, worst injury. So, I’d say I’ve had – I’ve had three surgeries labrum bicep tendon from practice, I told a laborer him from like rustling and training and I did the hernia and the MS ogaki fight.

So, I mean, I’m pretty beat up, man. I mean, it doesn’t look like it in my face, but my body takes a beating it takes a lot of beating, especially in training then I go hard or I go hard in the paint and I think that’s what people don’t really realize I put a lot of effort into I and a lot of effort a lot of pride in being the least hit fight in the bantamweight division. Like these guys can’t touch me, man. And I probably my cell phone defense, you know, take the fight to where I need to take it. I’m not in here to be one of those Rock’em Sock’em robots, you know, I fight smart take the guy down be intelligent about it?

It’s an intelligent man’s sport. If you’re smart, you know you go in there do what you got to do and get your hand raised at the end of the day don’t get hit matters. Are those double use in pro wrestling, they say guys have a bump card. And it gets to the point where, you know, the body just can’t take anymore. You said, you’re kind of beat up these days, you know, you’re still healthier. You’re still an active fighter and everything, but do you have it kind of like a set date or a set amount of fights like in your mind like for the future like for example.

Like if I don’t know a couple years from now, you’re not in like title contention is that when you say, you know what? Maybe I’ll go in a different direction. Yeah, hundred percent, I was actually talking about this in depth with some of the younger guys they were actually really taken back by the age that I said they thought I would have been fighting much longer than what I that I would do and that age is 32 men. I don’t plan on fighting past 32, you know, I’m praying that I and I’m putting in the work to make sure I get everything out of the sport that I want to get out of it and around 32 is when I want to be done.

You know, so I’m praying that I get to accomplish the goal of winning a UFC title and cap both my athletic career with in a huge way. You know, for me, you know, this is more about making up for all those times that came up short. So, if I can get this man, you know, this is success to me. And I feel like in my own mind growing up. Well, the way I grew up the people I grew up with, you know, I didn’t see much of a future and I, you know, I didn’t even thought I was gonna go to college. So this is success for me, I feel like right now, just be in this position that I’m in now, you know, I feel I’m very successful.

But at the same time I know I’m not done. I know there’s still a lot more to accomplish a lot more things that I can take advantage of and gain out of this sport and you know, I want to take more from this sport than this what it takes for me. And that’s one of the things I always told these younger guys like don’t let this sport be B be bad to you be good to make it. You know, make sure this sport is good to you get everything every last dollar every last penny you can get out of the sport because when it’s over.

It’s over, man. There’s no going back and your body you’re not gonna get that back you’re gonna leave that body in the cage, you know, wherever you decide to fight and that’s the way I look at it and I’m assuming 32 it also be the cutoff time for say like boxing or anything else that’s like physical like that. I think so, I think 32 hopefully. I made enough money where I could ride off into the sunset and you know, hopefully I get that FDNY job that I want and do some real estate. Maybe do some TV, we’re working on a TV show with Iaquinta. And I so hopefully that gets going and you know, that’s the way I’m looking at doing things and or I can go back to being a phys ed teacher.

I got a lot of options. There’s a lot of opportunity for me to do a lot of different things. And I’m college-educated I’m smart, you know, so, it’s just some just a matter of picking what I want to do. And what I’m most passionate about I love coaching kids. I love helping people and who knows then I’m never gonna rule out anything. But I think being a physical a professional athlete. I think 32 is the age. I want to be done. Awesome, man. Well, listen, I really do appreciate you taking a time to do this, especially after you hear you’re a quick dinner before to fight it before the interview.

I saw you munching on some stuff before I let you go. I’m making food before I let you go, man any upcoming events you’re involved in appearances anything. We should look out for parent sees. I’m actually going to UFC Poland. That’s October 21st. And I actually I’ve been doing the podcast with Chris Manzo. He’s one of the sons of the house Housewives of New Jersey. It was an old TV show that they had reality show TV. They’ve him and his brother were pretty popular from that show and he does a little TV show podcast on fantasy sports network comes on every Thursday night at 8:00 and I’ve been getting on there more and more just trying to build my portfolio of things that I can do and just continue to market myself.

So then so, we got that Poland got that and I actually sell some some gear too. So this is not Reebok gear. It’s Funkmaster gear. So, it’s all authentic and it’s actually going to the actual fighter. So algebraic staring back calm, come in Stern calm you heard from there himself. I’d remain. Thanks so much for time. Thanks for having.