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With Aljamain Sterling's bantamweight title bout at UFC 259 drawing near, the 'Funk Master' has been the subject of several curious critiques and comparisons lately. One such in particular is the notion that he holds several similarities to the legendary Jon 'Bones' Jones including their respective long-reach advantages over most opponents and general versatility.
One fighter who could not have disagreed with the comparison more is fellow bantamweight Marlon 'Chito' Vera who recently took to Twitter to voice his opinions on the matter:
Marlon Vera's comments come in response to an interview with MMA Junkie where Matt Serra compared Aljamain Sterling to Jon Jones. UFC hall-of-famer Matt Serra is extremely confident of Aljamain Sterling becoming the bantamweight champion and believes that Aljo has the arsenal to rule the division. In his recent interview with MMA Junkie, Matt Serra told John Morgan:
“I think if you look at his whole career, the talent was always there and it’s just how he put it together. (Ray) Longo would always say that if I point something out in the fight like ‘Dude, that was amazing!’ Longo would always say, ‘Look, that guy can do whatever he wants to do upstairs.’ He really could be the Jon Jones of that division, that’s how talented he is, he could do what he wants."
Aljamain Sterling plans to utilise his reach advantage
Aljamain Sterling will face Petr Yan for the bantamweight title at UFC 259 in an interesting matchup of styles. Aljamain Sterling will look to utilise his 'Funky' Jiu- Jitsu and 10-inch reach advantage to extract a win on Saturday night. In a recent interview, the 31-year old told Sportstar:
"I'm just as tough, and I've got cardio too. I've got the reach advantage. It's just a game of inches, and this is the highest level. Whoever makes the first mistake is going to be the one laying on their back. We don't know much about Yan's grappling. I think that's where I can exploit him the most. I could strike with him, but why play that game when I don't have to? It's a complex fight. I just have to make sure that I take my time and find openings."
