Former UFC bantamweight champion [autotag]Aljamain Sterling[/autotag] isn’t going to let the dust settle before he lights the competitive fires again.
Sterling is set to take on fellow UFC fighter [autotag]Nathaniel Wood[/autotag] – but in a grappling match later this month at Polaris 25. The promotion announced the booking Friday. Polaris 25 takes place Sept. 30 in Wales.
Sterling currently fights at 135 pounds. Wood has a longtime bantamweight who moved to featherweight a little more than a year ago.
Sterling (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) won the bantamweight title in March 2021 by disqualification against Petr Yan. After an injury layoff, he beat Yan again 13 months later. After title defenses against ex-champs T.J. Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo, Sterling ran into a problem.
At UFC 292 in mid-August, he was knocked out by Sean O’Malley in the second round. He lost the belt and had his nine-fight winning streak snapped. He has not yet announced if he’ll move up to featherweight or try to get a bantamweight title rematch.
Wood (20-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) lost to Casey Kenney in 2020. Then he moved from bantamweight to featherweight and it appears to have made a big difference, particularly when looking at his three straight wins against Charles Rosa, Charles Jourdain and Andre Fili.