There were a lot of concerns for Aljamain Sterling after his knockout loss in Fresno.
Just as rising bantamweight Aljamain Sterling started getting another impressive streak going, it was ended in devastating fashion by Marlon Moraes.
Sterling entered into the main card bout off back-to-back wins over Augusto Mendes and former champion Renan Barao respectively. The 28-year-old had bounced back well from consecutive split decision losses to crafty veteran Bryan Caraway and perpetual contender Raphael Assuncao, the former handing him his first professional loss which ended a 12-fight win streak.
However, the UFC’s 135 lb division is as stacked as any. With so much talent from top to bottom, the odds of suffering a bad loss at the hands of another hungry contender chasing gold are quite high.
Unfortunately for Sterling, it just wasn’t his night. He level-changed in the first round in pursuit of the takedown and Moraes cracked him in the dome with a seismic knee. His limp arms flailed as he went crashing down to the ground. It was a while before he started moving again.
KNEE GAME PROPER! Marlon Moraes with the absurd KO knee on Aljamain Sterling! #UFCFresno https://t.co/Wn9Q0ul7fz
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) December 10, 2017
Moraes trains with the likes of Frankie Edgar and Eddie Alvarez, two of the nicest, yet most ruthless fighters on the planet.
Alvarez just crowned himself ‘the most violent man in the UFC’ following his incredible knockout against the uber-tough Justin Gaethje at UFC 217. A couple of months before that, he was visiting a Philadelphia GAA player in hospital, who was recovering from serious injuries after being struck by a car.
Moraes appears to be cut from the same cloth. After celebrating his greatest UFC victory to date, his demeanour shifted once he saw Sterling struggling on the mat.
Even in his Octagon interview with Paul Felder, he made a point of wishing his opponent a speedy recovery.
“First of all, I just want to wish Aljamain Sterling a speedy recovery, you know. We are here, we want to fight and win, but I don’t want to see my opponent hurt, you know.”
The crowd hushed to eerily silent levels immediately after the fight as it was unknown what condition Sterling was in. Sterling made sure to let everyone know that he was fine on social media while praising Moraes on a solid win.
Hats off to Marlon. Thought I timed the TD perfectly and he was able to land a nasty knee. Sucks to be the nail, but this is the fight game. I'm ok for all those asking 🙏🏾
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) December 10, 2017
Glad to hear he’s ok, that was a particularly ferocious finish.
