MMA Fighting - Fighter vs. Writer | Aljamain Sterling Picks Cory Sandhagen to Win at UFC 267 But Tells Petr Yan 'We're Going to Fight Again'

Episode Date: October 26, 2021

UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling co-hosts the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer as he breaks down the entire UFC 267 main card including the interim bantamweight title fight where he explains why he's picking Cory Sandhagen to defeat Petr Yan in the co-main event. Sterling will also give an update on his health and recovery from neck surgery, which prevented him from competing at UFC 267 and when he expects to fight again. Follow Aljamain Sterling @FunkMasterMMA Follow Damon Martin @DamonMartin Subscribe: http://goo.gl/dYpsgH Check out our full video catalog: http://goo.gl/u8VvLi Visit our playlists: http://goo.gl/eFhsvM Like MMAF on Facebook: http://goo.gl/uhdg7Z Follow on Twitter: http://goo.gl/nOATUI Read More: http://www.mmafighting.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Support for this show comes from the Audible Original, the downloaded two, ghosts in the machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the Audible Original Blockbuster. The Downloaded, it's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love?

The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from Audible. Support for this show comes from the Audible original The Downloaded 2. Ghosts in the Machine. The Earth only has a few days left. Rosco Cudullian and the rest of the Phoenix colony have to re-upload their minds into the quantum computer, but a new threat has arisen that could destroy their stored consciousness forever.

Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Rosco Cudulian in this follow-up to the audible original blockbuster, the downloaded. It's a thought-provoking sci-fi journey where identity, memory, and morality collide. Robert J. Sawyer does it again with this much-anticipated sequel that leaves you asking, what are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? The downloaded two, Ghosts in the Machine, available now only from Audible. Welcome back to the Fighter versus the Writer. I am your host, Damon Martin, and today with UFC 267 right around the corner this Saturday from Abu Dhabi.

Had to go bigger, go home. And you don't get much bigger than the man who will coach. host my show today, and that is the reigning, defending UFC, Bantamweight Champion of the World, Mr. Al Jermaine Sterling. Aljo, how are you? Good, good. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Thank you so much for joining me. Of course, we got a lot to talk about six big fights on the main card on Saturday.

Of course, you got a very vested interest in one of those fights in particular. We'll get to that in a minute. But Aljo, let me first start up by asking how you're doing. I know you're back in New York. I know you've been training, but how is the neck? How are you doing? I'm doing great. And just to clarify, I know a lot of people thought I was injured.

I'm not injured. I don't know how many times I can say those exact words that I'm not injured. I had a major neck surgery that just needed more time in order for all the neurological stuff to get to where it's supposed to be. And it didn't happen fast enough in six months. Obviously, that makes sense. You know, it's a big procedure. And it's something that I was dealing with for such a long time that once I finally got the problem taken care of, you know, you need time to. to recover in time to heal, kind of like relearning for the nerves to kind of reconnect

to all those muscles and do what they're supposed to do so that they start firing. And that's what people don't understand. It's a neurological thing. It's not a physical thing where I look good. Like, you know, like in terms of the pitches, like you think that version of me would be ready to fight, but I just wasn't ready, you know. So thankfully, I'm feeling so much better now. And I'm excited to watch this fight this weekend and get back out there to compete and see

who I'm going to be competing against. Absolutely. I remember when we talked after you had the search, I think you told me, originally November, December is what we were kind of targeting. And obviously it sounds like October's a little early. So in terms of like, again, we got to wait for Peter Jan and Corey Sandhagen to play out this weekend. But early 2022, is that kind of what you're thinking in terms of like you'll be ready to go again? I think so. I think January, February, March the latest, I really don't want to do anything later than that. My last two years I've only been able to compete once per year, both because of surgeries. This one, the one before was San Hagen, and then before that was, well, actually, I fought Jimmy Rivera, then I fought Pedro Munoz. And then I had a year-long break, and then I fought Corey Sanhagen, and then I had another year-long break, just waiting to see what was going to happen with the division before I fought PD on.

And now I'm pretty much going to have another year-long break, so I'm getting older and not younger, and I want to capitalize. on my youth man. I would love to try to get three title fights in in a year, you know, so that means I would have to win the next one and try to do three within a calendar year, which is a big feat. But I think it's if I can keep my body healthy, which I think now that I had this procedure taken care of, I think I could potentially do that. Because when I was younger, man, I never really got injured. And I get through these injuries throughout my career as a fighter and I kind of just prolong them, just kind of ignoring them, not doing the right thing, and making sure that they're taking care of before I get to the fight and I kind of just

tough it out because that's just the wrestling mentality. And eventually you kind of run your body into the ground. So I'm doing the right things now so I can keep the longevity and continue to compete for as long as I can and at the best optimal level that I can. Yeah, absolutely. I know you listen to your doctors now. I was kind of surprised when I heard some comments from one particular doctor, Dr. T.J. Dillishol. I was shocked.

I know he got his medical license recently, and he was talking about, you know, I don't know if Aljo's ever going to fight again. I kind of jokingly called him that on another podcast. I called him Dr. Dillishaw. I was like, I'm sorry, Dr. Dillishaw that I'm not following your advice, but I think Aljo's got actual physicians who are telling you that you're going to fight again, right?

Oh, 100%. Yeah, they've done this procedure multiple times with other high-level athletes. Some guys in the UFC. I don't know if I can name names, but, well, I mean, I think people know about this already. Alan Jobin is one of those guys. You know, he had a major neck surgery.

He's a lot older than I am, and he took to it very, very well. And he competed a couple of times with that procedure afterwards, you know. So it just takes time. Wyman's had the same procedure, a couple of other guys. And even outside of this sport, the NFL and things like that. Well, actually, with the NFL, they've had fusions. They haven't actually done artificial disreplacement yet. but I'm in a good spot.

I do believe that I've made some serious gains. Once I was able to take my foot off the gas from trying to do a hard intensive training camp, people are saying, I thought your neck was hurt, why you're sparring? I'm like, I was sparring the entire time trying to get to this fight so I can perform for you, for you, for you, I don't know what to call them.

I don't know, whatever. For these folks, I'm trying to compete for them. I got to spar to see where I'm at. You know, that's how the sports works. You know, so if I'm trying to spar, I'm trying to do all these hard training sessions and I can't get through it, I have to do the right thing and make sure that I'm looking out for myself and making sure that I'm okay. So I get checked out. And exactly what I thought it was, just I just need more time.

Yeah. And it's not like Peter Yan who pulled out of the fight for undisclosed reasons. It's not because he didn't have a visa because the guy had his visa. It's not because anybody, he had COVID because he didn't have COVID. And it's not because of an injury because I saw the guy working out and I messaged him on Instagram. and he told me he really wants to fight with me Aljo, I really want to fight with you but not now

we have to fight a later. All right but why? But why? Why are you pulling out of the fight? You know, so it's different circumstances so hopefully I know the intelligent fans and the people who've actually competed before they understand and

the other ones who've never competed and they just like to talk it I just try to, I just entertain them the best way I know how and that's just troll them back and that's really it. Yeah, it's funny. If you had a knee surgery, everyone knows it an ACL surgery, ACL replacement. You know, that's typically nine months to a year.

We all know that. That's kind of like standard practice. And it's kind of funny. If you had an ACL injury, everyone would say, oh, wow. Well, Aljol will be back in, you know, March of next year or whatever because that's typical. It's just so weird that like because it's your neck injury, suddenly we expect you to be back in five months or six months or whatever it is.

It's just such a weird thing with this sport. If it was a knee injury, everyone would be like, oh, wow, okay, a year. I totally understand that. but for some reason your neck you have to rush back, which again is ridiculous. So more important to anything, man, get your health back. And because, again, I know when we talked when you had the surgery, you said the whole reason you're having the surgery is because you haven't been able to perform at your absolute best because you've been dealing with this who's basically college or high school, you know,

so you actually want to perform at your best. That's why you had the surgery. Yeah, it is what it is. And I think the other side, being on this side so far, so far so good. and I couldn't be happier with the decision I made. And to wake up, sleep, stand, walk, and not have constant radiating pain down my neck, it's life-changing.

You know, quality of life is so much higher. And I can't believe I didn't do this sooner, if I'm being honest. Yeah, absolutely. Well, Alzo, of course, we're going to get to the interim Bantzweight title fight a little bit, but let's talk about this entire main card, six-fight main card from Abu Dhabi.

It's a great card. And if you got ESPN Plus, it's, It's free. I mean, it's not free, because you're paying for ESPN Plus, but no pay-per-view price, which is pretty awesome. And it's a Saturday daytime card, which is pretty cool. I think the fight started like 11 a.m. or 10 a.m. I'll hit here on the East Coast, so pretty awesome timing with that.

But let's kick things off in the Light Heavyweight Division. It's a six-fight main card, and we got a new fight coming up between Volcan Osdemar. Of course, everyone knows Vulcan and former title contender. Coming off a loss to Yerahasca, no shame and losing to that guy. He's been a beast since coming to UFC. It's taken on Magamette and Kalayaev. Now, Joe, I'll be honest, when you look at the lay of the land of light heavyweight, you know, of course we got the title fight, which we'll talk about a little bit later.

We got Yuri Perhaska as the number one contender, guys a monster. I think I very much look forward to him fighting for the title. But I really look at this division. I think Ankaa might be the best prospect in the division right now. He's been a monster ever since he had that kind of upset loss to Paul Craig, which is a fight he was winning, and then he got tapped out of the last second of the third round. He's looked like a monster ever since then. So kind of give me your thoughts on this fight and who you're picking between Ankleyev and Osdimir.

Man, this is a tough one, but I do think Ancolaev has gotten to a different point of his career. And I think he's long gone all those days of him making those mistakes and get himself trapped in submissions and getting tapped out at the very end of the fight, not even around the fight. So I do think this is his fight to win. obviously, Osir is a veteran, but he's had some still tough, close fights, and I think in terms of a prospect, maybe a kid that's a little bit more, I don't want to say hungry,

but seems like he has more of that burdened desire to get to the top of the division. I think he has all the skill sets and the tools in the world to do it. He's a scary guy, and very, very dominant. We get to good positions, and I like him in this fight,

even though you can't count out Mr. No Time, but of late, I just don't think Osdimir has been looking like the guy that we remember on his way up to the title shot. Yeah, it's funny because, and I know fighters hate hearing this, so I know this for a fact, but this is a reality. I think Osdemeer's kind of

become that gatekeeper to that top five. Like, you know, if you beat him, you're legit. If you don't beat him, you're not quite ready. And I feel like this is that kind of measuring stick fight for Ankeliab. If he can beat Osdemeer, then we're talking about him fighting Anthony Smith and Alexander Rackich and those kind of guys. If he can't win

this fight, then he kind of drops back into the conversation. but I like Anka Live to win as well. I'm a big, big fan of his in terms of his style is striking. I like Anka Live to win this fight as well. But again, Ossamir is no joke. He is a tough test. I mean, Anthony Smith had to go through him to get to a title shot. Yuri Prohasker, of course, went through him,

and now it looks like he's going to get a title shot. So this is kind of a measuring stick fight for Anka Live. If he can't win this, then we kind of know where he's at. Yeah, 100%. And if Ozimir wins this, we kind of see that he's still one of the players at the division. And that's the one thing about being a gatekeeper for whatever that actually means. I think if you can beat and turn back those contenders, then you're still a player in that division and you could still have some light at the end of the tunnel in terms of maybe eventually fighting for a title again.

So I wouldn't count Ozimir out, but I think father time is on ankle-livers side and just his performances. I kind of tend to lean towards the size of who's performing and, what are they doing in terms of a technical standpoint? I think Anka-Live is that newcomer that's going to really turn some heads for the rest of those guys in that division to pay attention to. Absolutely, I agree. Let's move on to the Welterweight Division, of course. Now, this is a big one.

Lee Jing Liang taken on Hamzat-Chayev. Of course, Hamzad has been out for over a year. Talk about a guy whose career has gone in, like, completely two different directions. I mean, he came in, stormed in, three wins in a very short period of time, had the big knockout over Gerald Mirchart, which is a big win for him in middleweight. and then he kind of disappears. He's dealing with some injuries. He's dealing with COVID.

Long-term COVID, which ends up knocking him out of several fights, which would have been huge for him to fight Leon Edwards, when you look at where Leon's at right now. Now he's coming back basically 13 months later. I talked to Li Jing Liang over when he was doing his camp in China. He's a very big, physically strong welterweight. I think this is actually a really tough matchup in terms of what Kamizat-Jamaev brings into the fight. But, I mean, it's kind of weird.

Shamiab was the talk of the town. you know, this time a year ago. And now, you know, it's been 13 months since he's fought. It's kind of weird because he has such a weird, like three fights and three months, whatever it was, two months, and then he's been gone for 11 months. It's really weird when he's going into this fight. Yeah, I agree. I do think the thing about this matchup is you have to look at all those variables,

but then you still look at the body of work that Chimae had put in, and it's still super impressive. And you have to think that the time, if he was doing the right thing, you would imagine that he was, that he probably got better with the time, because that's just what happens with most people. They typically get better. They get smarter or they see newer things

from watching fights, analyzing fights. And I would imagine that that's kind of left them hungry and trying to figure out other ways to stay involved outside of being able to compete. So I think that's going to be something promising for us to see what's going to happen, which kind of Chamaev shows up for this fight. And with Lee, the leech he's a big dude

strong guy but shemayev did fight at 85 I mean you granted you can say those guys at 85 weren't the biggest and weren't the most technical or strongest guys at that weight class of course but there's something to be said that he can still compete

he has the agility he has the quick twitch muscles he can rustle his ass off and I think that's what's going to make this fight super intriguing because I don't know if leach is that well versed on the ground defensive that he can keep Chameh of him, and then he has to deal with the quick hands of Chamaev, because you saw that bright hand that he threw in a Mershot.

That was lightning fast, and it was very unorthodox because it looked like a straight punch, but it came out and then went down the middle. It's almost as if he baited him as he was coming down the middle, circling him and trying to cut him off, and he threw like a punch that looked like it was going to be a hook, and then that acted like maybe like the last second kind of pivoted, and almost like a curveball came right down. the pipe and caught Mershaw right on the chain and pretty much put him out.

So I think that's what makes this fight very dangerous. I like the leash a lot, but he's got big power. He looked good against Ponziadibio. I just, I have a hard time betting against a wrestler, especially a wrestler that can strike, you know, and he might, maybe COVID still plays a factor. Maybe it still plays a factor. We just don't know. We just don't, there's just too many unknowns to really make a, what would you call it,

wise or intelligent bet because we don't know, I don't have that inside information. But if I have to say, if I have to pick somebody, I kind of go with the wrestler who's been very, very dominant and kind of ragdolling guys. And that would be Chameh. Yeah, I like Chameh to win as well. But I tell you what, that first round is going to be real telling. Does he come out and wrestle? Is he worried about his cardio, his conditioning, all those kind of things to play into the whole COVID factor? I think if he fights a smart fight and wrestles, I like Chimayev to win. But if he stands on the outside and he starts, winging punches with the leech again i think all bets are off at that point because you know

lee packs a serious punch and he looked great in his last fight he had that kind of a you know that kind of off performance against neil magnin there's no shame there neil magnin is as tough as they come but outside of that he's looked like a legit top 10 top 15 welterweight uh if you're asking me for like an upset pick like a potential upset in this card i'd probably pick this one because like you just don't know where tchamyev is at 13 months later dealing with covid but i'm with you I think Chimae of wins. His wrestling is so dominant. If he looks like he did look before, I think he wins this fight going away.

But if you're asking me for like an upset pick, I could see Lee pulling this one out. Yeah, for sure. He's got all the tools to do it. He's a big strong guy. And I think if he could just keep him off him for a bit, get him tired. We might see maybe some stuff that we just don't know about, which could mean that he probably still have some lingering effects that might not have cleared all the way out. We had a guy in our gym, Dennis Bazuki, it took a couple of fights, and he fought when he, like, right after he had COVID, had a war

because he just couldn't push the gas pedal. Then he fought on the contender series, had a war because he couldn't push the gas pedal again. And then he had another fight after that, another war with a kid that he beat already and much more dominantly than this one. And obviously every fight is different. But because of those side effects, you just don't know what you're going to get. And his last performance, which was last night, not last night, Friday at the Ring of Combat, decimated the guy in probably 30, 40 seconds.

And that's the guy that we remember, the guy who's sharp, good endurance. I mean, obviously the fight didn't go long, but I think just because he had all those issues in the back of his mind, this is the first time he's actually felt good and felt like no COVID symptoms were actually bother him or anything like that. So you just don't know. We really just don't know. Yeah, I mean, this is the guy of the game. We got to remember he was talking about retirement because of what he was dealing with COVID. So you just don't know.

So we're going to find out a lot. I think in that first round, you know, how he adapts, how he comes out in fights and how his conditioning is. And you know, as a wrestler, Aljo, you know, wrestlers, the wrestling is the most physically taxing, to me, the most physically taxing activity you could do. I mean, it is so, it just works your entire body. So we kind of assume he's going to be coming back because I'm sure he's been wrestling. But again, that's going to be the question we're going to have answered on Saturday. Yep, I'm looking forward to it. Let's talk about the heavyweight fight.

You know, there's some fights. It's funny. I remember I think it was when Clay Guida fought Jim Miller, and I was like, haven't these guys fought like four times already, and they'd never fought before? In the heavyweight division, Alexander Volkov, taking on Marching Tibera, and these guys have both been around for a while. They fought, you know, a lot of the good heavyweights, and I was like, how have these guys fought like two or three times?

Apparently not. But Alexander Volkov, of course, coming off a tough loss in his last fight, again, no shame in losing that fight that he lost. And of course, Marchine Tibera has been on a great run right now, a very dominant run, a big winning streak for him. This is an interesting matchup. Like my head says Volkov is the better heavyweight fighter, and he's looked better, of course, the win over him

and some of the other things he's done. But got to give it to Tibera. He's really turned it around lately. He's picked up some big wins. Yeah, Tiber has looked really good of late. I forget who it was for his last one that he beat. Was it Walt Harris? I can't remember, but he beat someone really good

and the way he did it was very impressive and I think that kind of let everyone know that he's really a mainstay in this heavyweight division. With Okov had a tough fight against Sir Ragan. No shame in that. Gone is a freak at that weight class. You just don't see heavy weights that move like that, that can crack like that and that technical.

So for him to lose to him, like you said, there's no shame in that. I think there's going to be a very competitive fight. the one thing you have to remember is the height advantage that Volkov brings to the Yatgan. It's insane. You don't see guys built like that. And he's like a mini-drago, but, you know, a real-life version, you know, that actually fights in the UFC. This is going to be a tough fight.

I don't know. I don't know. Tiber is on the road right now. He's feeling himself. But I just feel Volkov is still the guy. one of those guys at that week class and I think he gets it done. Yeah, Volkov to me is kind of like

a little bit in the Ossdamere situation but I think a little bit better off because when you think about some of the wins that Volkov has had, he's looked great in a lot of those fights and again when you think about the ones he's lost you know, they haven't been bad losses in terms of who he's losing to.

Like there's no shame and losing to Cyril Gahn and going five rounds with him. I mean, the guy, Cyril Gond's a killer went five strong rounds with him. No shame in losing that fight. And I feel like, you know, if you're going to be a top five heavyweight, you're going to have to go through a guy like Volkov. And I think Tybira's looked great lately, but I just, I have a hard time picking him as fighting. Volkov still beats, you know, I don't know if he'll ever beat in Ghanu.

I can't say that he'll beat a Miyochich or even a Ghan as we saw on his last five. But I think he's going to beat pretty much everybody else. And that's why I think Volkov wins this fight. I don't know if he'll, I don't know if he'll get a knockout or not, but I think he wins. Yeah. And I think the skill set and just a height advantage, I think he's going to, I think he's going to, going to have the better striking. I mean, Taboor, I don't know if he's really a wrestler to kind of get him down,

take like the Curtis Blades approach. It's a big man that's going to be standing across the cage from him, you know? So I like Volkov in this one for sure. Yeah. Now, in the lightweight division, one of the most intriguing fights on this entire card, a guy that everyone has been buzzing about is Islam Makachev. Great win streak. Of course, everyone knows him as kind of Habibner Magamatov's prodigy,

kind of taking up the torch, so to speak, for the Khabib, since he's retired. And he's taken on Dan Hooker, who takes this fight on short notice after getting a big win of her Nazrat Haqparast. Of course, everyone knows Dan's travel insanity, you know, traveling to fight week, getting there on Thursday morning or Thursday afternoon, actually, cutting weight, fighting, you know, cutting weight, making weight on Friday and fighting on Saturday. And actually having a really strong performance showed off his ground game a little bit more. And that's bouncing back from two straight losses to Michael Chandler and Dustin Pori.

and again, no shame and losing to those guys. Islam, of course, has been on an incredible run, beating everybody in dominantly lately, you know, beating guys like Tiago Moises and some of the other guys he's fought in terms of, in terms of his career. You know, Aljo, I gotta be honest, this is an interesting matchup. I mean, listen, my head says Makachev, he's the wrestler,

he's been so dominant, hooker's taken to fight on short notice. But I think in a way, this is actually, you know, this is Machachas, I mean, I think Javier Desanos would have been that as well, but this is really his first big step up. up into that top 10 if you ask me. And I think this is kind of the proving ground, so to speak, for Makachev. Yeah. And it's possibly, like you were saying, one of those gatekeeper fights as well.

But because I feel like the guys who have beaten, Hooker have gotten to that next level in terms of Porriere, Michael Chandler, and getting that title shot, you know, because Hooker is held in that such a, he's held in that high regard, you know. I do think this is a big one for Markerchev. I just feel I don't know if Hooker's going to be able to keep him off of him. I don't know if he's going to use the approach that he used against Michael Chandler, which was backing up and trying to just hold the range and being against the cage. I think if he takes that approach, it's not going to be good for him

because I think Markachev is going to do a good job of pressing him against the cage, taking him down. And Marka Chenev can crack. You know, he hits pretty, pretty damn hard. You know, so he's not a good job. small guy. And I think this is probably why I could be retired to give him an opportunity to win the belt and to become champ as well. So I think that was kind of their plan, possibly. But just from the skill set, I mean, Dan Hooker is good. The one thing that I will say is I didn't like in that fight with Nasrath is I felt like when he got touched hard, of course, that he

didn't eat the shots the way he used to, if that makes sense. where there was a little bit more of a give in the way he handled those shots, where before he was kind of like determined, where he just kind of walked through those shots. And, you know, he was known as the tough guy. Even when he fought Alaa Quinta, and that was one of the things they talked about, I was like, I think he's just really tough. I don't think he's more technical than me.

And for the one fight, he comes out and fights technical, was against Iaquinta, you know? So we know he's smart. We know he could be a technician. but a guy who's actively trying to put him down, I think that's what's going to make things a little bit more challenging. And how good did Dan Hooker's wrestling get over that short amount of time? I don't know if there's enough time to make that adjustment for a high-level fight like that,

but if there's no risk, there's no reward, you know? So, you know, I wouldn't be surprised if Dan Hooker can land one of those step-in knees. Those are, he's put a lot of guys out with that. But I just think this is a tall task for him. And I think Mokachev is, And I think he's going to continue the surgeons. Yeah. It's funny because when you look at Dan Hooker, the knees are a big factory, so tall and arranging with those knees.

But the problem is, in my opinion, is that Makachev wrestles very much like Khab, which is he's not shooting double legs. He's a guy who puts you against the cage and kind of muls you and takes you down from there. So he's not taking as much as a risk shooting from the outside where Dan can land those knees. And I think that's what bodes well for Makachev is that he fights very much like, like Habib. he's not Khabib, but he fights very much like Khabib, and Kibib was never the double-leg guy. He never went out there and just shot double-legs and took you down. He would put you against the cage,

grind you, and then put you down from there, and close to the distance. And I think that takes away some of Dan Hooker's biggest weapons in this fight with his range and his distance and his knees. And I don't think Makachev's the guy who's going to be shooting from far out trying to get a double-leg, which is where you can see those knees playing a big factor, you know,

get his stuff and throw the knees from there, just throwing a knee as he's coming in. I don't think Machach's that kind of wrestler. So, I think that actually bodes very well for Mokachev. And like I said, Mockachev might be the guy, man. I got to be honest. Like when you look at the lay of the land of lightweight,

I mean, of course, we got Dustin Porier about to fight Charles Oliva. You know, we got Justin Gachee fighting Michael Chandler. But all the hype around Mokachev to me is very real. I think this is the guy who could be champion. If he keeps running the way he's running, I think within a year we could be talking about Islam Makhachev as a title contender at worst or potentially a champion. Yeah, I agree.

I think it's a good fight for him and a good opportunity. And, man, I like Hooker a lot, man. I think he's a tough dude. I love the way he made that turnaround with that last fight. He looked great with the wrestling and everything else. But the way these guys wrestle, it's Samba, it's judo, and MMA wrestling. It's not your traditional wrestling type of style, you know, and I think that's what makes it a little bit problematic.

like guys that can keep that pressure, keep that pace for the duration of the fight for 15 minutes or more. And I think that's what makes Michael Chav's such a dangerous opponent. If he can't get off those weapons and keep the range and use those calf kicks

and use those stepping knees. I mean, he did catch Hooker going backwards. I think, not Hooker, Jim Miller, I think, going backwards against the cage. I think it was either him or Gilbert Burns. So he's taking out some tough dudes. news, man, over his career.

And this is a good fight. It's going to be a fun fight to watch. And I think it's going to answer a lot of questions. And hopefully, it's not a quick one. We need to have some legitimate questions answered for, for Mark Kivv. And I think we're going to get it. I think Hooker's going to bring a fight and he's going to make it a very, very competitive one.

Yeah, I agree. I agree. All right, let's talk about the one that you will have a very, very close eye on. And that is the interim Bantamweight title fight between Peter Jan and Corey Sanhagen. And let me ask real quick first, Aljo, you know, I know you've kind of talked about this before. Did you, did you have an issue with them making an interim title? With you being out for a little while longer? Like, it didn't seem like that bothered you too much.

You're still the champion, and you know, you're just going to end up fighting the winner this fight. And I think, and this is not a knock on Peter, Yon, or Corey Sandhagan, any way, shape, or form. But I know the UFC has a contractual obligation to give Abu Dhabi so many title fights per year. And I feel like that might have played a small factor in why we're getting a interim title fight. No offense, whatsoever. to what's going on here, but it didn't something that really bothered you a whole lot when they announced the interim title fights.

No, no, it didn't bother me at all. I think it makes for a bigger fight. Obviously, I'm not going to be out longer than a year, but I'm going to be out for just about a year. So for them to keep the division moving, I mean, we had this situation before with Dominic Cruz when, you know, he was hurt, and he was out for almost four years, I feel like,

or three and a half and then got hurt again and took more time. But they kept the belt for him, and, you know, that was his guy. They made the interim, you know, Brow won the interim title over Faber and kept the division moving before they actually made Brow

the undisputed inaugural champion. So it's just one of those situations, man. It's a difficult one, but it doesn't bother me. I think it makes for a bigger fight. I think people are going to look at whoever wins that belt as the actual champion. If it's Sanhagen and I beat him last year,

for people to kind of discredit what I did, it would just be an insult. And that's how, fickle some of the fans can be. They kind of forget what you do other than what has happened lately kind of thing.

So I'm not worried about it. I think I match it well with either one of those guys. I still believe that fight with Pidion wasn't myself, just a shell of myself in comparison to everything I've done and just the way I fight in general.

So this is going to be a good one. But yeah, to answer the question, interim title doesn't bother me at all. I'm looking forward to the winner of this one. Yeah, and in a weird way, I'm glad it's five rounds, because I think you've got to have that kind of fight. The state's got to be high enough because the winner's going to go on and move and fight out and fight you for the title.

So I think a five-round fight kind of makes sense here. Of course, you've been in there with both guys. Now, Corey Sanhagen, you made very quick work out of the fight lasted two minutes or less than two minutes. So I know it's weird to say, but it's actually probably harder for you to gauge Sanhagen, consider how quickly that fight went versus Peter Young, where you actually spent the better part of four rounds with him. But I got to be honest, I think stylistically, I think Sandhagen creates a lot of problems for Peter Yan. I thought Corey beat T.J. Dillishaw. No offense to T.J. I'm not trying to take a shot at him.

I joked about him being Dr. Dillishaw earlier. But in all seriousness, I think I think Corey won that fight. It's nothing against T.J., but I thought Corey had much better offense in that fight did a lot more damage. I just think Corey, you know, sat back a little bit too much, and I think that kind of hurt him. But I think Corey won that fight. So I think this actually makes a lot of sense. And I think Corey does present a lot of interesting problems for Yon, especially on the feet. Oh, 100%. That's what I said when I was talking about just this matchup in general. I just think this is the first time we're going to see Yon actually take on a guy within the top five

and not a guy coming off of a loss for a title shot, you know, for a title fight, you know, outside of me. But again, I feel like anyone who puts a lot of stock in the fight that I had with him, is just they just don't know the sport or they just don't know how I actually compete in the past. So I think you kind of got to look at it from a different set of lens. I do think San Hagen gives him a ton of trouble on the feet. And I think that's what is going to make this very, very difficult

because Yon kind of stands there, kind of plots forward, and he's just looking for that big shot. Hopefully he could catch you. And it's one of those things where a guy like myself, a guy like St. Hagen, a guy like Dill Shaw, anyone that has any type of real full, footwork, he's going to have a real hard time with those guys just trying to find him.

San Hagen is real tall, he's real rangey. You watch the fight with him and Marlon. Marlon couldn't touch him. He just don't kick, swinging and missing, just looked like he was at the batting cage and just couldn't find connection at all. You know, that's what it looked like. And that's what San Hagan does.

He's that good. And that's why I had to put the pressure on him the way I did, because if I give that guy space, that's a dangerous, dangerous fight. And I knew that going in. And the same way I know the rematch is going to be very, very dangerous. But I know if I could do the same thing, which is get my hands connected on that man, I'm taking them out again.

And I do believe I could do the same thing to Pidion and anybody else in this division. But this is going to be a front fight for the fans. I think it's going to be fairly a stand-up matchup. I wouldn't be surprised if Yon gets touched up a little bit that he looks to try to go to the wrestling. Because, again, he's that dangerous from the outside. he's not like he has a ton of power, but he has fight ending techniques, flying knees,

spinning elbows, those front kicks that he uses, and even that head kick that he use and the wheel kick that he used. He's got dangerous weapons where it's not like Jan, where he's throwing these combinations and he's falling into his punches

in order to get a lot more punching power behind it. So it's two completely different styles, but I like what St. Hagen does, and I think that's what's going to get him to win, And if you ask me who I rather fight, I would rather fight Piedion because San Hagan is that dangerous in my opinion. And people might think, oh, you steamrolled. I'm like, dude, that was a calculated fight to the T because if I was off even a split second, I could have been on my back and I could have been the guy who's taking a nap looking at the lights.

And that's a realistic reality that I knew going into that fight. And I had to make sure I was on point. I think Frank Yeager tried to do the same thing, but it's just, it's different, you know. He did a good job of cutting an angle. Frankie stepped in and didn't even really level changing. Hego Sanhagen, Air Jordan makes a connection and takes him out, you know? So that's what I'm saying. It's a very dangerous fight, and I know I got my hands full with whoever I'm fighting next.

Yeah, it's funny. The one thing I will say about Peter Yan, you know, he's very good. I mean, this is not me insulting the guy in any way, shape, or form. but I think the one problem that Peter Yon has shown, and he has an incredible chin, but he gets hit. I mean, we saw it in the Jimmy Rivera fight. You, I mean, that first round, when you were fighting him, you lit him up. You had a lot of strikes landed early in that fight,

and you look at, you know, even the Aldo fight. Aldo cracked him with some leg kicks. You had him, and I think that's the problem is he does get hit. He will allow himself to get hit a lot. He's kind of like the guy who will take a punch to give a punch. And I don't think you can play that game with Corey Sanhagen. I think Sanagan's a guy who is so creative and has such big, like, you know, flashy knockout power, the jumping knees, the flying knees, the big kicks. You know, I think Yon, if he plays that game, I'll trade you a punch for a punch.

That's just a losing combination against the guy like Corey Sanhagen. Like when you're like, I'm going to throw my best punch, you throw your best punch and whoever lands first is going to win. And don't get me wrong, I think Yon is very, very good. But I think playing that game with a guy like Sanhagen is like playing with dynamite, man. you lit the fuse, he's got to get out of the way. And I just don't think that's a winning combination. And I like Corey San Hagan to win this fight. I think he's on point.

I think he beat Dillishaw. And, you know, if you listen to Corey talk, he said he's been training ever since he was preparing just in case he did get a chance to fight. I've talked to Corey about this before. I know he's kind of a guy who always stays ready for a moment, so I don't think he's in this in like a totally short notice situation. And I think stylistically, he creates a lot of problems for Yon. So I like Corey San Hagan to win this fight as well. Yeah, I'm not saying Jan can't win. I do think he's a tough, durable dude.

He's got really good defense with the striking, you know, that high shell, high guard, whatever you want to call it. But again, leaving yourself to be open and being plotting, like such a plotting style, while a guy is dynamic and has the cardio to do that for five rounds, that's a problem. So I don't know what he's going to use. I'm telling you, people are going to say, he's going to, I guarantee he's going to try to take him down. If it gets, if it gets touched up a bit, he's going to try to take him down.

He's going to try to do what I did. And he's going to realize that that shit was not easy. I think the fans are going to realize, like, okay, Aljo maybe was on to something when he was saying what he was saying. And that's just, I'm just calling how I see it. I don't try to take any digs at anybody that's not deserved. And I'm not trying to take any credit away from anybody. I know what I got in front of me.

I know how skilled both of these men are. It's going to be a great fight. and this is why I think this division is one of the best, if not the best. Yeah, I agree. You and Corey, part two, there's a great storyline, of course, considering how quickly you beat him, it was such a dominant performance, you choked him out in under two minutes, whatever it was, coming back and defending your title, and that would be a great storyline. But is there a part of you that feels like, even if you end up fighting Corey next year

and it ends up being that fight and you unify the titles that way, do you feel like at some point in your career, you're going to have to see Peter Yan again? I know you want that. Like you said, in terms of what you want, you want Peter Yan, but realistically, I think Corey San Diego wins this fight. Oh, 100%. But I told the matchmakers already, like, we're going to fight again. We have to fight again.

There's no way that that story could end the way it did. It has to be an ending to this book. You know, we've got to have the season finale. That's the way I kind of look at it. And I want to give the fans the fight that they should have gotten the first time where I'm actually feeling good and not coming in. depleted, you know? So I think once we could do that,

we could figure it out and see who is who. And if he's better to me, he's better than me. But I really truly feel of my body, everything, that that guy is not the better fighter. And I can't wait to prove it no matter what, whether it's for the title or not, contender fight. No matter

what it is, we're going to have to run it back at some point. Yeah, yeah, I agree. I agree. Let's move on to the main event, of course, Jan Blahovitz taking on Glover Tashara. Glover's been on an incredible run right now, picking up big wins, Tiago Santos, Anthony Smith. Of course, we all know what Yanni Blacko does. The guy's a monster. He's looked great. His last few fights, we've been knocking out Corey Anderson, knocking out Dominic Reyes, you know, beating Israel out of Sanya, which is a very big deal. Of course,

Israel was, you know, a lot of people had him kind of like the uncrowned light heavyweight champion, even though he had never fought a light heavyweight in the UFC. And Jan had a great fight against him. Smart game plan took him down, used his size and his power. This is an interesting matchup. I got to be honest, Aljo, because listen, my gut tells me Blaovich wins this fight. He's looked so good lately. The legendary Polish power is real. He's got so much confidence right now. Like, I think he's got all the markings of a guy who could be a very long-reaning champion. But man, Glover's that guy. You can't count this guy out. Every time you think he's done, I mean, the guy's whatever, 43 years old, 42 years old,

and you're thinking, this guy's not going to fight for a title again. I would argue, I think he's looked better now than he did going into the John Jones fight, which was like nine years ago. Yeah, I really don't even understand what has happened with him.

You would think that the shots that he's taken now, at his age now, compared to when he was younger, those shots that he was taking, that it would be putting him out, you know? But obviously, Blokofich, Polish power, he's got to be careful with that because that guy connects,

and he's putting guys asleep. And I wouldn't be surprised if he makes one connection and doesn't give to Chera that chance to get that comeback win the way he had against Anthony Smith and some of those other guys on his way back up to a title shot. You know, so this is one of those fights where Glover has to be very calculated. And if he could get the fight down to the ground early, that's going to be in his best interest.

Blokovitch isn't terrible on the ground, but I just think there's levels. And I think to share it is just clear-cut, the better guy on the ground from the top and on the bottom where he can hit sweeps if he's on his back and get reversals or get back to his feet and cause some chaos over some of the guys like Kutalaba that he fought.

And even on top, he's a nightmare. He passes the guard. He lands some good ground and pound. He has good back control. He gets to mount, head and arm triangle chokes. He's a technician, you know. I just hope that he knows what he needs to do, which is the game plan to me,

path to leave his resistance. Let's get the fight to the ground, figure out how to get that, to the ground and make it as, as, make, make, what would you call it? Make do with his last chance, because this is probably his last shot. Yeah. Yeah, listen, I think, I think what Yon can do is he can't let Glover get out of a bad position.

If he hurts him early, he's got to put him away. He cannot allow Glover to stick around, stay around in the third, fourth round, because we saw what happened. Anthony Smith had him hurt early in that fight. He didn't put him away. Glover came back. and then he just poured on the punishment and just, you know, really hurt Anthony

for the rest of the fight. Same with Tiago Santos. Tiago had him tagged, had him hurt a little bit, couldn't put him away. Glover comes back and puts the hurt on him and then gets him to the ground and beats him that way. Yon, if Yon gets him hurt early,

and I think Yon can hurt anybody, if he hurts him early, he's got to put him away. He cannot let Glover escape because I think that's where Glover's confidence starts surging. You got to do the Anthony Johnson man. You got to put him away, put him down and out. Don't let him stick around because I think if this fight makes it in to the fourth or even the fifth round,

I think that's where Glover can take over. Oh, 100%. I think that's what he shines, man. He gets stronger as the fight goes on. And like you say, he just can't hurt him and then let him off the hook and let him stick around in the fight because that's what he does, man. Guys empty the gas tank. They get tired trying to get him out of there. He manages to survive somehow, some way he finds the heart, the fighter spirit sticks around,

comes back and he gets these he gets these guys out of there you know so that's just what he does and I wouldn't be surprised if he gets the upset you know jiu-jitsu wins fights and just skill you know I think this is interesting because they're both I think roughly 40 years old

40 plus so for these guys to be the oldest guys I think I think Bolgavich might be 38 or something like that but for both these guys to be at that age and fighting for a belt and winning the belt, that's pretty damn impressive, you know, especially against all these young young, hung lions that are coming up and trying to make their name for themselves,

like the Poshawskers and guys like that. You know, there's a lot of a lot of young talent looking to come to take these guys a spot and kick out the old guy in with the new, you know? So both these guys, I think they got to really show everybody that, who they are, what they're capable of to really keep everybody else kind of in check to let them know, like, you know, whoever steps in front of me, you're in for a fight.

Yeah, I like Blahovic to win this fight. I just think he's on a role right now. I think he's really got a lot of confidence. I think people were counting him out against Israel, and he showed that he is a true champion. I think that was such a huge win for him for his confidence. And I think he's just on a role right now. I think him and Prohaska is a really interesting fight

because the way that Uri just goes out there and just kind of goes balls to the wall, everything he throws is dangerous. And I think that's a really fun, really interesting matchup, especially if it stays on the feet. But I think right now I think Blahovic is just too much. But listen, we can't lie. I'm sure it's the same for you, Aljo.

There's a small little part of us all that's kind of rooting for Glover. You know, see a guy like that, like a legend to get me, come on. Like this guy, he's like the nicest guy in the world. It's like Damien Maya. Like there's a way you kind of root for Damien Maya. Like you just want to see that guy find success. And there's a small part of everybody watching this fight. I think this is going to be thinking, man, I'd like to see Glover pull it off.

but I got to be honest. I think Blahovic wins this fight. I think he's just on such a role right now. His power's real. His striking's on point. I think he's got that confidence now. And we saw him go five rounds with Adasania, which is a great performance.

I think as long as he doesn't allow to Chera to just come back on him, doesn't gas himself out early, I think Blahovic wins this fight. But like I said, there is a small part of me that would have a little bit of joy seeing Glover, you know, win the title like 43. That would be amazing. It's a long shot, but I mean, he's done the impossible before.

And when times get tough for him, somehow he gets tougher. I don't know who's going to win this one. I just feel like this is Glover's. I don't know. I just feel like Glover is going to try to shock the world, of course. I mean, he's not going out there to lose, right? It's a tall feat. Can he get Blokovic down on the ground?

I don't know. It's not like he's a wrestler, but this is such a good fight. I enjoy it. I think it might be flying under the radar because of all the stuff that was going on with the band-and-weight division. But I think people are forgetting how good of a main event this actually is and how talented both these guys are. So I'm looking forward to a good fight. If I had to bet, I would bet Blokovic. But, again, I would not be surprised if Glover figures out the way to stick around and just latch onto an arm,

latch onto a leg, and drag Blokovievich down to the ground. and somehow somewhere get on top and look for a submission and gets to win. Yeah, it's a great matchup, and it's a really fun one. It's kind of like those two guys you have a hard time, but you can't root against either guy. Because Jan is an incredibly nice guy. He's put in his work, man.

I mean, again, he's not been around as long as Glover, but this is the guy who is, you know, on the losing streak in the UFC, he's on retirement. I mean, to see him come back and do what he's done, has been amazing. And, of course, Glover's a legend. So this is a really fun main event. And you're right.

I mean, listen, the Bantway Division, I feel like is the best division in our sport, right now it's so good it's so deep uh and you know again i can't i can't deny that you know yon and sanagan's a great fight i wish we could have seen you in there but in a weird way aljo and i hope you don't take this the wrong way uh i'm actually glad you're not fighting because i want you to be healthy i want you to be 100 percent i want that neck to be 100 percent i want your body because i know you told me the problems you had what your neck actually did in terms like the nerves and all the things that did to your body not being able to perform correctly in a weird

way and i don't mean that as an insult i'm glad we're going to see you come back at a 100% in let's say February or whatever it is and fight the winner of this fight because I didn't want to see you fight at 75% or 60% again. So in a weird way, I'm glad you're getting the time. I think they should have not scheduled this fight to begin with. I think it should have been in December or January, but hey, that's just me. But I'm glad you're going to let you know, you're going to let the neck heal properly and then come back and be the assassin, Al Jermin Sterling, that we know you can be.

Thank you. Yeah, I'm excited for that too. and to be able to compete at a high level the way I know I can. It's been a blessing to be back here and to just be able to do this again. I'm super happy and I'm super thankful for the opportunity, and I just can't wait to get back out there and actually feel good and compete at my best. So 2022 is going to be a fun time. I look forward to that.

I look forward to it. Al Jermaine, thank you so much for taking the time to break down the fight card with me today. I really appreciate. Of course, you got your own podcast. I want to give you a chance to plug that away. You got your own podcast. You're always doing a million things. Whether you're fighting or not, you always got a million things going on.

So tell people where they can find you. What else you got going on right now? The podcast is called The Weekly Scrubs on all streaming platforms and on YouTube. Other than that, doing a little real estate, fixing it on my mom's house, trying to make sure she's happy, you know, just trying to take care of the family as best as I can. Next week's my fiance's birthday. so happy early birthday to her and I'll be back here in New York again

going to Vegas tonight so yeah it's gonna it's been a I've been flying back and forward just to help corner my teammates that's how much I love this that's how much I'm dedicated to helping guys other than myself and uh yeah

you should join the ride I know you guys always come back together I saw on Instagram wide boom is up there as well like I know he lives down South Carolina now but you guys always come back together as a team right yeah yeah

he had a guy from South of Carolina. They actually had a fight, his pro debut, who wrestled All-American Kid, but he's actually from New York, you know, so the kids never had a fist fight in his life. It's actually hilarious because we were talking about it in the back room, stud wrestler, and he's like, yeah, I didn't know what to expect because this is the first time he's ever punched anybody in the face, you know, so. Yeah, good time with everybody.

Absolutely. Well, Alto, thank you so much for doing this today. I really appreciate, of course, looking forward to you being back early next year, fighting the winner of Peter, John Corey Sandhagen, defending your title. Glad you're doing good. Glad the neck is healing. And thank you so much for doing this day.

I really do appreciate it. Thanks for having me, Damon. All right, talk to you soon. All right. Algeman Sterling, there you go, folks. Of course, the legend himself, he will be back early next year. We look forward to that.

As always, want to say a big thank you to everyone tuning in to the Fighter versus the Rider. Make sure you check us out on all your favorite podcast platforms, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon. Of course, you can find us over on MMAfighting.com. And what I say, a big thank you once again

to the UFC Bansomweight champion Al Jermaine Sterling for joining me on the show today. Thanks for tuning in everybody. We'll see you next week for another edition of the Fighter versus the Rider. Listening to the Vox Media Podcast Network.