Aljamain Sterling has unique plans for Kevin Dantzler's guard play: 'I'm literally going to grab him by his ankle and try to swing him around'
'Funk Master' hopes opponent is willing to engage in an entertaining clash in FURY Professional Grappling 8 headliner on UFC FIGHT PASS.
CFFC Hall of Famer and former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling knows exactly what he signed up for in the featured bout of Saturday's FURY Professional Grappling 8 event. For the past two years, he and fellow Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Kevin Dantzler have each made it clear they were hoping for a chance to cross paths.
On Saturday night, that moment becomes a reality when the two step on the mats at Philadelphia's 2300 Arena.
"I'm trying to get a highlight for this match," Sterling said. "It would be nice. I'm hoping to get a little bit more of a rare submission. If I get an opportunity to go gogoplata, I'm going to definitely go for it.
"I still enjoy grappling. Grappling is just a fun thing to do. I think there's something still very rewarding about being able to make someone submit, manipulate their body in a way that they don't want, and make them quit, essentially."
Saturday's event marks Sterling's first appearance for FURY Professional Grappling, and there's an incredible backstory that accompanies the matchup. Dantzler faced Sterling's teammate, Merab Dvalishvili, in the headlining bout of FURY Professional Grappling 2, but "Funk Master" wasn't exactly a fan of the signature style used in the contest.
Dantzler traditionally attacks from a grounded position, willingly giving his opponent an opportunity to take the dominant spot, assuming they can deal with his attacking guard.
"It's just weird," Sterling said. "You could tell what type of guy he is in the bedroom if he just sits on his butt. He's just a lazy motherf-cker, you know? Like, get up and put some work in, bro. Don't just sit and lay there like a little fish leaving a freaking snail trail all over the mat. Someone's got to clean that up, man. That's disgusting, you know?
"I hope that's not his approach because I'm literally going to grab him by his ankle and try to swing him around, so I hope it pisses him off. I hope he kicks me if I try to do that and maybe get a little bit of mean in him so that he actually comes and tries to compete like a man, you know? Earn your takedown, don't go sitting in.
"It's just weird. Like you wouldn't do it in a street fight, so why are you doing that? That's a bad habit to practice. That's just the way I look at it. I'm looking to dominate from the top position and from there do my best work. I'm the man. You're my bitch. That's it."
Dantzler, who is 5-0 under the FURY Professional Grappling banner, vehemently defends his approach by explaining that the competition is sport jiu-jitsu and that it's up to his opponents to deal with his style. But Sterling takes exception to that explanation.
"The reason people made jiu-jitsu was the art of self-defense," Sterling explained. "It wasn't so I could go sit on the ground. That wasn't the purpose of the game. It was so that the smaller guy can at least have some type of way to defend himself against a bigger person, so objectively, if you want to be all technical about it, and he wants to go, 'Well, learn how to pass my guard,' it's just like, 'Well, learn how to take someone down and defend yourself so you don't get taken down so that you can be a more dominant person.' I think that's fair to say, as well, so if he feels it's OK to sit and pull guard, then I don't know. Like I said, I'm going to just try to drag him by his feet and try to make it as entertaining as possible.
"We'll see what his approach is. Hopefully my words might piss him off a little bit. Maybe he comes at me like a man. That's what I want. The people want to see two guys go at it, not just 'I'm going to sit on my butt and play footsie.' It's just weird, man. Like, you wouldn't do it in the street fight. You can say sport jiu-jitsu all you want, but the truth still remains. There's something to be said about a man who's willing to sit to his ass in any type of fighting situation. Point blank, period."
So the backdrop is set for what could potentially prove an intriguing clash of styles β and emotions. Sterling also views it as a way to start building toward his featherweight debut in the octagon, which promotion officials recently revealed will take place against Calvin Kattar at April's blockbuster UFC 300 event. So while Sterling has been openly critical of Dantzler's grappling approach, he also insists there's nothing personal on the line when the two clash on Saturday night.
Sterling just wants to put on a show, and he's hoping Dantzler is of an equal mindset.
"No grudge match," Sterling said. "I just want to compete. I want to have fun competing, and I want to give the fans a show, hopefully have some fun scrambles, some fun transitions, and show people why they should be excited about grappling, not just, 'Hey, we're just going to stand here and do a whole lot of nothing.'
"I want to show some of the cool stuff I get to do in the training room and why I've gotten the name 'Funk Master.' You know, I feel like it's been a while since I've been able to kind of display that to the world, so I think a win here is obviously good. It can't hurt, but I think the way I win is much more important. I just want to show off some things that I've been working on, and hopefully we get to do that. Hopefully my opponent is a willing dance partner, and I don't really have anything else to say other than I just want to go out there, have fun, and just let it all hang out."
