Aljamain Sterling didn’t get a flashy finish but he definitely earned the win in his featherweight debut at UFC 300.
The former bantamweight champion scored several takedowns and maintained dominant control over Calvin Kattar in every round en route to a lopsided decision victory. All three judges scored the fight 30-27 with Sterling getting the nod as he returns to the win column and moves forward with a new career at 145 pounds.
Some early striking exchanges finally led to a takedown from Sterling as he immediately looked to advance his position. Kattar defended well to escape the position and get back to his feet without taking any real damage on the ground.
Sterling scored another takedown just before the first round ended as he threw a few punches to let Kattar know that he wasn’t just going to look for submissions on the canvas. The former bantamweight champion stuck to that same game plan to start the second, slipping inside and bringing Kattar down again.
Kattar kept finding a way to work up to his feet but he struggled to break free from Sterling’s grasp.
Unfortunately, Kattar showed real hesitancy to overextend with his strikes, perhaps out of fear of the grappling, which actually led to another takedown from Sterling. Again and again, the former bantamweight champion dragged Kattar down to the ground and maintained control from the top, although he wasn’t doing a lot of damage.
The crowd started to grow restless but Sterling didn’t abandon his suffocating game plan with Kattar just stuck underneath him with no hope to escape.
With less than two minutes remaining, Sterling actually tossed Kattar on his head during a scramble and he immediately unleashed a barrage of punches. Kattar got out of the bad spot to hold onto the final horn but he knew the fight wasn’t going his way.
While it wasn’t the kind of win that will put Sterling into title contention in his new division, he still dispatched a veteran like Kattar in dominant fashion on a showcase card like UFC 300.
