Aljamain Sterling pulled off an awesome submission at UFC 228 when he submitted Cody Stamann with what is known as the “suloev stretch”. Later in that same event, Zabit Magomedsharipov would pull off the same submission over Brandon Davis. The submission is not one seen often so having it happen twice in one night is rarer than the submission itself.
With 2018 wrapped up, many sites and promotions are doing “best of” awards for the year and they usually include categories like “best knockout”, “best fight”, and “best submission”. The UFC put out a poll of all their standout submissions they felt was worthy of the category and the suloev stretch made an appearance, but not by the fighter that did it first in 2018, which was Sterling.
Sterling was not the only one that noticed but he is letting it be known that the UFC is overlooking the Serra-Longo fighter and if anything, should “put some respeck” on his name.
– Arm triangle choke, from bottom, over then #6 ranked Takeya Mizugaki.
– Guillotine decapitator, over then #8 ranked Johnny Eduardo.
– Modified Suloev Stretch (attacks the knee joint instead of hamstring) over then #10 ranked Cody Stamann.
Put some respeck on my name @UFC!! ?— Aljamain Sterling (@FunkMaster_UFC) January 2, 2019
He has a strong point that he backs up on social media when he lists his submission wins, including the one from that event that was featured on the UFC’s poll. His argument is legit because not only did he do it before Magomedsharipov in 2018 but he also did it against a higher ranked opponent.
Sterling even did a very detailed breakdown of the submission after his win at UFC 228, complete with a safety disclaimer and the difference between MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Alexey Oleynik’s Ezekiel choke seems to have been overlooked too. There are casual fans and hardcore fans of every sport and it would seem lately, whoever is running the UFC’s social media accounts might be of the former category.
The UFC has held many events in 2018 and perhaps there were too many submissions to count, but the rare ones deserve some credit and the fighter that did it first should be the one recognized.
Do you think the UFC should update their poll?
