Aljamain Sterling, a former UFC bantamweight champ, opened up about how an old schoolmate turned UFC legend, Jon Jones, changed his whole approach to fighting. Speaking on his YouTube channel, FunkMasterMMA, Sterling took fans back to their high school days and a crazy moment that flipped his thinking about what it takes to win.
Sterling and Jones were close in upstate New York.
“I went to school with him in my freshman year, his sophomore year, before he became a UFC fighter,” Sterling explained on FunkMasterMMA.
They had a blast back then.
“We partied a lot…he drops out, I transfer and see all these pictures of him doing cool s***…I thought, ‘I want to do this,’” he said.
Recalling how Jones’ path inspired him after they went separate ways.
A Bar Encounter That Rewrote the Rules
Fast forward to when Sterling met Jones again, now a rising UFC star. Sterling figured Jones was living strict, like a monk, to dominate the octagon.
“I meet him, I’m thinking I gotta live the life of a monk, I gotta be super disciplined,” he said.
He imagined Jones was all focus and sacrifice, the secret to crushing opponents.
“I’m thinking, ‘This is what Jon Jones is doing. This is why he’s killing these guys, cause he’s just here with the mental and the sacrifices and everything, the dedication,’” Sterling explained.
But then came the shock. Sterling ran into Jones at a bar, just two or three fights into Jones’ UFC career.
“I see him at the bar, maybe two or three fights into the UFC. He’s probably got a fight the week later, and he’s getting smashed, drinking, having a good time, and he’s offering me a drink,” Sterling recalled.
He couldn’t believe it.
“I’m like, ‘Nah, I got a fight in five weeks. Wait…you’re fighting tomorrow, bro! I’m confused, what the hell is happening right now?’”
That moment hit Sterling hard. He’d been cutting out everything fun to train, thinking it was the only way.
“I gave up all the things I enjoyed in life that made training more enjoyable,” he said. “But I was like, ‘The sacrifice, the sacrifice.’”
Seeing Jones party and still win made him rethink it all.
“And this changed my mindset,” Sterling admitted. “But then I realised it came down to the mental.”
For him, it wasn’t just about giving stuff up, it was about staying sharp in the head.
Sterling carried that lesson forward. After years of grinding, he won the bantamweight title in 2021 and defended it twice before losing it to Sean O’Malley in 2023.
Jones kept dominating too. Born in Rochester, New York, Jones started wrestling young and went pro in MMA in 2008. He grabbed the light heavyweight title in 2011 at just 23, the youngest UFC champ ever, and racked up a 28-1 record, his only loss a disqualification. He won the heavyweight title against Ciryl Gane in March 2023 and defended it with a knockout of Stipe Miocic in November 2024 at UFC 309, proving he’s still one of the best ever.
