Aljamain Sterling reveals when he's likely to make a return

Aljamain Sterling has asserted that he’s aiming to return to action in January or February of next year. The reigning UFC bantamweight champion has been dealing with a few lingering injury issues that have sidelined him from competing inside the octagon.

Taking to his official Twitter account, ‘Funk Master’ indicated that he’s looking to return to active MMA competition as soon as he's healthy to do so. Sterling’s tweet read as follows:

“Early 2022. Jan or Feb. really not trying to wait another year. I did that for my wrist surgery. Im not getting any younger. I need to add more W’s to my bantamweight win resume. I have 11 (12 UFC wins. Barao fight was at 140). Im tied for 2nd in UFC history behind Dillashaw.”

Aljamain Sterling has been encouragingly optimistic despite having withdrawn from his UFC 267 rematch against Petr Yan. Sterling won their first fight via DQ (Disqualification) at UFC 259 in March of this year, due to Yan hitting him with an illegal knee.

Although Aljamain Sterling won their fight and was crowned the new UFC bantamweight champion, he has time and again expressed his disappointment over how the fight ended.

Sterling vowed to decisively defeat Yan and was looking forward to their rematch that was scheduled for UFC 267. Unfortunately, Sterling’s injury issues prevented him from competing, and he had to pull out of their rematch.

As evidenced by the tweet below, Sterling also suggested that he isn't going to rush his comeback:

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Aljamain Sterling’s injury issues and the UFC 267 interim title bout

Aljamain Sterling recently spoke to The Schmozone Podcast and opened up on the neck injury issues that are hindering his training and keeping him out of action. Sterling said:

"I trained my a** off and I just wasn't getting any results of what I wanted. I mean, talk about doing all those rounds, strength and conditioning work, early mornings and then going into sparring sessions and after one round of grappling and throwing strikes and your arms are just super heavy.”

Aljamain Sterling also revealed that he didn’t want to disappoint the UFC and his fans by pulling out of the rematch. Sterling suggested that he was “super depressed” due to the injury issues and his withdrawal from the fight.

Meanwhile, the UFC has scheduled an interim UFC bantamweight title matchup between Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen. The Yan-Sandhagen fight will take place at UFC 267 on October 30th, 2021. The winner of the fight is expected to face Aljamain Sterling in a title unification matchup next.