Aljamain Sterling was on the wrong side of a brutal knee strike knockout against former World Series Of Fighting Bantamweight Champion Marlon Moraes at UFC Fight Night Fresno.
Despite suffering such a brutal knockout loss, the bantamweight contender took to Twitter to issue a statement:
Hats off to Marlon. Thought I timed the TD perfectly and he was able to land a nasty knee. Sucks to be the nail, but this is the fight game. I'm ok for all those asking ----
— Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) December 10, 2017
Sterling provided fans with a few scary moments after the knockout loss, especially since he wasn’t shown on the broadcast after the knee strike landed. The contender would later be transported to a local hospital in Fresno, but he has since been released and is recuperating at home. The knockout loss was the first Sterling had suffered in his professional MMA career, while the fighters other two defeats both came by way of decision.
The loss for Sterling capped off a busy 2017 for the competition, which saw him win two of four fights in the year. In 2017, the fighter earned wins over Augusto Mendes and former UFC Bantamweight Champion Renan Barao, while suffering defeats to Raphael Assuncao and the previously mentioned Marlon Moraes.
