Aljamain Sterling Undergoes Wrist Surgery, Out For Frankie Edgar Fight At UFC 244
Aljamain Sterling announced he has undergone surgery and it has cost him arguably the biggest matchup of his career in the process.
Sterling seemed to be next in line for the bantamweight title. However, with Henry Cejudo out until 2020, he was exploring other options. One of them seems to be Frankie Edgar.
Edgar moved down to bantamweight recently and according to Sterling, he was offered a fight with “The Answer” at UFC 244 which takes place November 2 in Madison Square Garden, New York.
However, having dealt with a ligament tear in his wrist for the past two years, Sterling required surgery. Given the offer of the Edgar fight, he was ready to skip surgery and push through the pain. However, he also revealed that the New York State Athletic Commission wouldn’t be able to approve him in time:
“For the last 2 years, I’ve been dealing with a Scapholunate ligament tear in my wrist,” Sterling wrote on an Instagram post. “Depending how bad you let the injury get 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!
“I kept pushing through the injurys’ limits and telling the doctors that I would be fine with not getting surgery. Recently I was offered a HUGE fight, so I was going to push the limits again, despite having less strength than my left hand (I’m right-handed) to fight the legend, Frankie “The Answer” Edgar, at @thegarden!! Unfortunately, the NYSAC wouldn’t approve me in time to fight at home for Nov. 2nd.
“Although the wrist pain got significantly worse from fighting Pedro Munhoz, I was really disappointed, but recognized that maybe this was Gods 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?! – That was my mindset and sometimes us fighters are our worst enemies. Us fighters NEVER fight at 100% anyway, which is why we are, who we are that live this life and do crazy shit that we do! All for a moment of glory, that could last a LIFETIME! Thank you to @seanshelby @danawhite and everyone on the @UFC medical team for taking care of me. And my manager, Lloyd, and girlfriend @rebeccacruise for coming and being here for me.”
Sterling is on a four-fight winning streak and recently outpointed Pedro Munhoz in his last outing. No word yet on how long the surgery will keep him out.
Would you have liked to have seen Edgar vs. Sterling?
