Aljamain Sterling has opened up on the insane pre-fight warmup with his teammate Merab Dvalishvili before UFC 298.
Dvalishvili was fighting former bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo in a massive fight for both men. Dvalishvili ended up winning by unanimous decision as he took over in the second and third rounds, as his pace and cardio proved to be the difference.
According to Aljamain Sterling, the two had an insane workout before the fight which was practically a full-blown fight.
Aljamain Sterling details pre-fight warmup with Merab Dvalishvili
“We got Merab, how good is that? Finally getting his long-awaited title shot, I could not be happier for the guy. I’ll tell you what, the whole fight week was tough, I’m pretty sure you guys are familiar with his pace in the gym,” Aljamain Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “He doesn’t slow down in fight week. It’s the same intensity pretty much the entire way through. Fight day, I did four workouts, yeah, four workouts on Saturday. One with Din Thomas in the morning, hit pads for 20 minutes, then I spar with Merab three rounds, three hard rounds, more of me in squatting position getting the absolute dog shit kicked out of my calf, he punched my eyeball one time, touched me back of the head, did something to my kneecap.
“I was in a fight. I felt like afterward I was in a fight, I was like ‘I need to sleep…’ Then, we get to the arena and it happens all over again. And then he says, ‘Okay, I think I’m good.’ So I sit down, take my mouthpiece out, I’m relaxing. Bro, the mental decompression I had. My anxiety is through the roof, cause when you are warming up with someone, when they kick you and you check it, you don’t want them to hit your elbow, so you almost eat it and hope it hits your forearm. Yeah, I’m chilling because I finally get to relax. Nah. Literally 30 seconds later, ‘Okay, maybe we go some more.’ I was like, ‘Yo, Bro.’ I look at the guys like damn what are you guys here for, It’s just me getting me ass kicked the entire time,” Sterling continued.
After the win, Merab Dvalishvili revealed he sparred with Aljamain Sterling for three hard rounds, which the former champ says was the case.
But, the sparring ended up helping out Dvalishvili as he picked up the biggest win of his career and will get the next title shot at 135lbs.
