Aljamain Sterling Undergoes Wrist Surgery, Withdraws from Rumored MSG Fight vs. Edgar
Tristen CritchfieldSep 24, 2019
Aljamain Sterling was apparently on the verge of welcoming Frankie Edgar to the bantamweight division before he was derailed by an injury.
“Funkmaster” announced via social media on Tuesday that he recently underwent surgery for a lingering injury in his wrist. Sterling also revealed that he would not have been cleared by the New York State Athletic Commission for a proposed bout against Frankie Edgar at UFC 244 on Nov. 2. The rumored bout had not been officially confirmed by the Las Vegas-based promotion.
“For the last two years, I’ve been dealing with a scapholunate ligament tear in my wrist,” Sterling wrote. “Depending how bad you let the injury get [it] can weaken/affect your grip strength, reduces the weight you can lift, the pressure you can put on it, and over time gets extremely painful to do daily activities, like washing my back and my ass!”
Sterling is currently on a four-fight winning streak that includes a unanimous verdict over Pedro Munhoz in his most recent outing at UFC 238 this past June. The 30-year-old Serra Longo Fight Team representative is 10-3 during his promotional tenure with other notable wins against Jimmie Rivera, Cody Stamann and Renan Barao.
“Unfortunately, the NYSAC wouldn’t approve me in time to fight at home for Nov. 2,” he wrote. “Although the wrist pain got significantly worse from fighting Pedro Munhoz, I was really disappointed, but recognized that maybe this was God’s plan for me. I’ve been searching for clarity or a sign... maybe this was it…
“Either way, I was ready to risk it all again for a dream-come-true fight against a legend in my hometown!! I risked it before, right? So why not do it again, as my homecoming to FINALLY fight at home?!”