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Aljamain Sterling To Undergo Neck Surgery

April 11, 2021 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Aljamain Sterling is set to be on the shelf for a bit, as the UFC bantamweight champion is undergoing neck surgery. Sterling told ESPN that he’s going under the knife on Thursday in Los Angeles in order to deal with a medical issue he has been fighting for almost a decade.

Sterling told the outlet that he’s hoping to return before the end of 2021, which will likely be the rematch with Petr Yan that the UFC wants to book after Yan was disqualified last month for an illegal knee.

“They told me I will heal in three months, and can start doing cardio to get myself ready,” Sterling said. “They wouldn’t want to see me take a fight until they see everything has fused in my neck correctly. Five months would be ideal, if I heal up really quick. I’m excited. The faster I heal up, the faster I can fight. We’ll find out in the next three months, and get something on schedule.”

The fighter said that he’s been diagnosed with a herniated disc, and will be operating on his C6-C7 vertebrae. Sterling also has a partially-torn left bicep and a left shoulder injury, though they won’t need surgery to fix. He expects to be ready to defend the title by October or November.

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Aljamain Sterling, Jeremy Thomas