Aljamain Sterling will be facing Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 on April 13. The training of the “Funk Master,” however, is not off to a good start. As the fighter shared, eight to nine weeks of partying mixed with drinking and hookah has been causing him some issues in his training now.
Sterling is making a shift in class weight after losing to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292, where “Sugar” snatched the bantamweight belt away from him. Now, the 34-year-old is making the debut in featherweight, with Kattar welcoming him in the cage next year. However, Sterling admitted to making a mistake prior to taking his training for the bout.
In his recent interview on The Weekly Scraps podcast, Funk Master shared enjoying the past months partying before entering his training. However, the fighter confessed that the activity brought him some downsides.
“Right now, I’m just tired,” Sterling shared. “Like, I do one to two rounds of striking, and I’m exhausted. Also, moving around trying to do what I do when I’m lighter, but those eight to nine weeks of just drinking just about every single day and doing hookah, hookah non-stop, staying up late at night. Definitely took a toll on my lungs man, so I still feel like I’m battling back from that and trying to gain all that.”
The bout will be huge for Sterling, facing a No. 7-ranked fighter for his first fight in the featherweight. However, despite having a two-fight skid, Kattar, who has 11 KO and two submission wins in his record, won’t be an easy fight for Sterling. Yet, as a former champ hoping to snatch a new belt in a new division, Sterling will certainly be desperate for a win in this debut.
