How big is Aljamain Sterling for his weightclass?

[fortheo]

He's a big bantamweight. He gets up over 170lbs when out of camp, and looks shredded in the 160's. He goes through a long process to get the weight off fir BW.

 

[SeattleFightFan]

Weight isn't the soul criteria for size in my opinion, but it's helpful.

And I choose not to follow you into this rabbit hole of subjectivity but I'm sure others will. Cheers.

 

[HuskySamoan]

And I choose not to follow you into this rabbit hole of subjectivity but I'm sure others will. Cheers.

Don't care that much myself. Just my opinion.

 

[BJJ Lover]

He might be the perfect size for it like Jon Jones is the perfect size for LHW and Kamaru Usman is the perfect size for LHW.

Lankiness is very important. Aljo is not tall but he has long limbs which is more important.

 

[Liverkick-king56]

His cardio is a bit shaky for 5 round fights and he's a slow puncher.
That's his issues at BW and it's most likely due to weight cutting but he makes up for it with a herky jerky style, flexibility (Kicks) and ELITE grappling.
Guys like Prime Cruz, Prime TJ, Aldo and Prime Barao would be nightmare matchups but with the current lineups of BW's Aljo has a great style to be champ for a while. Merab is the only guy who currently can keep up with the wrestling but his striking is probably pretty bad without the threat of a huge wrestling advantage.
He may cut lots of weight but he's got weaknesses associated I see no issues with it. Only way it's in issue is if he pops for PEDs like TJ..... who literally had no weaknesses

 

[DOMMA]

 

[SkinnyClaw]

I never really saw it, he looks like a regular bantamweight to me, I think it's Petr Yan actually who is quite small for the division.

 

[jitzmonkey]

He does look pretty big for the division, and he could probably fight at 145lbs and be alright. He’s champ at BW, like him or not, but I think his cardio problems will likely be a resolved if he moves up.

Always thought that the cut hurt his cardio.
He'll probably stick with it until it becomes too tough.

His background is wrestling. He's got the weight cut down to the ounce. He also has the conditioning to manage 5 rounds after that weight cut (so long as not taking large amounts of damage like Yan 1)

I'd have to go back and re-watch it, but he looked like he wasted a lot of energy in the first 2 rounds of the first Yan fight.

In case anyone cares.

Sterling hasn't fought in California since they started publishing fight night weights. So we DON'T know how much he gains between weigh-in and fight time.

Back when I tracked these things (pre-COVID), the average weight cut across UFC events in California was 10%. California started punishing fighters above 14.7% (source).

Here's the last event in Cali. So we DO know that the 4 BW's in that event gained 12%, 12%, 14% and 14%. All 4 of these fighters are well above average, and half of them are getting mighty close to "too high" (as per California rules).

So riddle me this; why might "weight bully" whiners bitch about some fighters, but not about Blackshear, Zalal, Cruz and Vera? Answer: because they are emotional bitches who don't rationally use available facts to come to reasonable conclusions.

/rant

the idea that any fighter competing for money (and trying to take the least damage possible) would compete in any weight class other than the one that they believe themselves to be best suited is ridiculous.

I'd argue that the only accurate assessment of "weight bullying" would be cases in which one fighter doesn't make weight (w/o advanced notice of course) and still fights; or in Costa's case didn't even try while his opponent was on weight.

 

[CagedStupidity]

He recently stated he's planning on going to 45 within a couple of fights. Sounds like it was almost all due to weight cut issues, but also to get Merab a chance at the belt. Interview with Fighter vs Writer (on mmafighting podcast). He talked specifically about what weight he's at during camp, etc if anyone wants to find it and upload it. I can't make posts so I won't bother as it'll get buried in this thread.

 

[Phisher]

And it's always a popularity contest.

Holloway isnt a weight bully because he's a fan favorite. But Conor who was the smaller man between them was.

Jones was a weight bully, but Gus wasn't.

Pereira is visibly larger than a large LHW like Reyes, but nobody cares because they want Izzy to lose.

The subjective moralizing applies to PED use too. You literally see people on this forum who post angry rants on Jones in one thread and then reminisce about how great "TRT Vitor's" run was in the next. No logical consistency at all.

 

[TheOnlyGreatest]

He looks like he weighs 150 pounds max with good muscle insertions. Doesn't look big at all and probably looks like a teenager when he's wearing street clothes.

 

[Jorge Luis Borges]

They both make weight.

PS "weight bully" and similar sentiments is the dumbest trend on sherdog in years. And that's saying something. Calling for changes to "systemic massive weight cuts" is not dumb; calling out individual fighters for doing what everyone does (and/or for failing the "look" test) is dumb. Beyond dumb. Excessively dumb. Mind-numbingly dumb. Embarrassingly dumb.

Given the often substantial difference between weigh in weight and fight weight, no it's not. Saying they both weighed in at a certain weight is meaningless if they weigh different amounts come fight night. A fighter who consistently has a large weight advantage over fellow fighters on fight night is aptly described as a weight bully.

 

[TheOnlyGreatest]

He's a big bantamweight. He gets up over 170lbs when out of camp, and looks shredded in the 160's. He goes through a long process to get the weight off fir BW.

There is no way in hell that guy gets up to anywhere near 170. He's never above 12% bodyfat and I struggle to see him even at 160. For comparison, Cody Garbrandt is on record weighing 142 pounds on fight day and he is not smaller than Sterling but does have similarly delicate bone structure.

 

[fortheo]

There is no way in hell that guy gets up to anywhere near 170. He's never above 12% bodyfat and I struggle to see him even at 160. For comparison, Cody Garbrandt is on record weighing 142 pounds on fight day and he is not smaller than Sterling but does have similarly delicate bone structure.

He posted a video of him at 176lbs, but like I said, he was out of camp and out of shape

https://www.the-sun.com/sport/5156117/ufc-aljamain-sterling-weight-gain/

 

[Dorkman]

He never seems to be struggling or looking bad on the weigh in. So i don't get he's doing it any more so than any other fighters in the division.

 

[TheOnlyGreatest]

He posted a video of him at 176lbs, but like I said, he was out of camp and out of shape

https://www.the-sun.com/sport/5156117/ufc-aljamain-sterling-weight-gain/

That...is crazy. Never saw that video before. He must have been pretty flabby at that weight.

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

Pereira is visibly larger than a large LHW like Reyes, but nobody cares because they want Izzy to lose..

There are plenty of crybabies, on this site, who go on about Alex's walk around weight and scream "weight bully".

He makes weight, and did so for two divisions in Glory, so it's a non-issue. Well except for israel fanboys.

 

[fortheo]

That...is crazy. Never saw that video before. He must have been pretty flabby at that weight.

He was bloated as fuck, but I've seen him in the low 160's looking fit. He's a heavy guy for BW, for sure.

 

[GolovKing]

He's in the right division. He's not very big and looked the same size as yan, same height but longer limbs where yan was more compact and thick. Sterling has a very thin torso. He'd be pretty small at 145

 

[SeattleFightFan]

Given the often substantial difference between weigh in weight and fight weight, no it's not. Saying they both weighed in at a certain weight is meaningless if they weigh different amounts come fight night. A fighter who consistently has a large weight advantage over fellow fighters on fight night is aptly described as a weight bully.

I am all for changing the weigh-in rules. I seriously dislike the current rules and fear that they will only change after someone dies (like OneFC, like high school wrestling).

But intelligent fans don't conflate systemic problems around weight cuts, and willy-nilly picking some fighters - primarily based on popularity or the "look test" - and saying "hey, that guy is big, he must be a weight bully!"

Respectfully, here are my supporting arguments:

1) The weight issue itself: What you speak of is what I would call a systemic problem, in which there are no rules about weight gain after weigh-in (except a few recent, partially binding suspensions in Cali). Everyone cuts over 5%. Average is 10%. Many cut 12-14%. California started suspending those over 14.7%. In your perfect world, you suggest that fighters who cut 10% (average) are OK but fighters who cut 14% should be considered "weight bullies", however....
2) Fans reactions to the weight issue: It's not your "perfect world" and how fans actually hand out the term is nonsensical:

a) as I pointed out in post #12, fans don't actually use data to come up with who is a 'weight bully' and who isn't. For example, no one has ever claimed Cruz is a weight bully, but he gained back 14% in his last fight.
b) as @jx820 pointed out in post #22, "weight bully" is more popularity contest than anything else. Which is why Conor and Jones are, but Holloway and Gus aren't.
c) or as @Phisher pointed out in post #50, "Pereira is visibly larger than a large LHW like Reyes, but nobody cares because they want Izzy to lose"​

CONCLUSION: since a) there isn't a rule the fighters are breaking, and 2) fans by and large hand out the term willy-nilly instead of in a rational way, the only conclusion we can draw is that "weight bully" is an idiotic term that any sherdogger with a modicum of intelligence should be embarrassed to use.

I am willing to concede that IF we knew everyone's weight gains (and not just a few hints from Cali) and IF sherdoggers actually applied the term properly to those who were proven to have gained the most weight, then there would be a time and place for the term. In that parallel universe, you and I agree. Cheers.