Aljamain Sterling is not the only fighting Sterling in the family, as this Saturday, his brother Kelvin Sterling returns to MMA competition.
The 35-year-old Sterling is set for his third pro MMA bout as he faces debuting pro fighter Rodrigo Brauna at LFA 204 at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Mashantucket, Conn. The event streams on UFC Fight Pass.
Sterling made his pro debut following an 11-fight amateur run where he went 7-4, fighting to a quick no-contest following an accidental eye poke in May 2022. Sterling was booked for CFFC against Keron Reed where he lost a decision three months later in what was his most recent bout.
So why is now the right time to return?
“Time is eluding us all,” Kelvin told MMA Fighting. “Time waits for no man, I feel like I’ve always been ready. I took my first amateur fight when I only trained for like three months in the sport. I was never the type to shy away from a fight.”
Sterling remembers that loss vividly, as he had a hellacious weight cut to bantamweight—the same division where his brother Aljamain captured UFC gold—and also left because the weight cut was getting to be too much.
Kelvin had to realize that a little bit too late, as he recounts the days and moments before his lone pro loss.
“I threw up so much blood and I called one of my teammates, which is Phumi Nkuta, and I said, ‘Yo, Phumi, I threw up so much blood,’” Sterling revealed. “Then he was like, ‘What do you mean?’ And we went to the bathroom, and I started throwing up more blood. He literally told me to call that fight off, and I said no, and I ended up still fighting that night, lost in space and time.
“I didn’t even think to rehydrate after throwing up so much or I just went out there and tried to bang it out, but you know, it didn’t work out so great.”
Aljamain agreed on chalking it up to a learning experience and the finer points of the fight game that are won and lost outside of the cage.
“I really just think it’s just inexperience,” Aljamain said of Kelvin. “He’s never wrestled like I did, and my other brother, so learning how to cut weight the right way, I think he was just in the wrong weight class.
“Trying to come down to 135 and just learning experience, how to cut weight the right way, how to rehydrate the right way, he just finally started eating pasta, which is hilarious. So yeah, you got little things like that that makes it a little bit more difficult, so when the fighter in the cage is not showing up, the one that’s in the training room, there’s something that’s going on that’s not connecting the dots. I think he’s figured it out now, I’m actually really looking forward to his return to see how he does at this weight class, not cutting as much weight and just feeling more like himself in the training room and seeing how this performance goes.”
After a lengthy layoff, and with hefty weight cuts being a thing of the past, Sterling is ready to prove that his hype out of the Serra-Longo camp is justified, and do so with Aljamain there to watch it all unfold.
“[The headline is] going to read ‘Kelvin makes weight with a bowl of food in his hand, and he gets the ‘W,’” Kelvin predicts. “Hopefully I can get my first finish, but let’s not get greedy and just go out there, be safe, and take care of business.”
“Domination is the theme for this weekend,” Aljamain responded.
“Yes sir,” Kelvin said in agreement.
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