How to MMA: Backpacking with Aljamain Sterling
Backpacking with The Funk Master
If one could choose one position from which to start a fight, be it grappling street or MMA, you’d have two answers: the back or mount.
Both are dominant positions, but the back presents a more potent finishing threat in MMA (unless you are Glover Teixeira). In the classical sense, none are better at getting to and maintaining the back than Aljamain Sterling.
With a legacy-defining title-defense against all-time great combat athlete Henry Cejudo, we will analyze Sterling’s impeccable ability to live up to his namesake: The Human Backpack.
Exposure
When watching Aljamain Sterling fight, what becomes most apparent are his janky striking mechanics and “sell-out” takedown style. He can, and has, competed on the feet with competent strikers; however he opts to kick from the outside and punch to create back exposure. He primarily does this with 3 tools:
1. Duck-Unders
2. Single-Legs
3. Under Hooks and Triceps-Grip Takedowns
Duck-Under
When in open space Sterling has an active left hand that constantly occupies the opponents face. Though not a heavy strike the constant jabbing forces a return, and Sterling takes this opportunity to duck under the return strike and acquire a back body lock. With the back body lock he has the option to jump straight onto the back or force them to the mat with trips.
Ex 1: vs. Cody Gibson
Sterling throws the left hook
And ducks under the opponent’s return left hook
Sterling then grabs the back body lock
Finally, Sterling trips Gibson to acquire back control
Ex 2: vs. Petr Yan II
Sterling jabs
Yan returns with a left, as Sterling ducks under it
Giving Sterling the opportunity to drop on the single
Forcing Yan to the fence . . .
Finishing with a double to open up the back
Single-Leg
Sterling is a tremendous grappler who marks out for single leg takedowns, even attempting the odd low single. Though his entries are sometimes obvious . . .
. . . he has gotten much better at masking his takedowns with his striking.
Ex 1: vs. Yan II
Sterling feints the 1-2
And drops onto the single leg
Frankie Edgar-style post single
Off-balances Yan and opens up the back
Aside from simply ducking into the opponent’s torso to grab the single leg, Sterling has a much safer strategy to obtain a single leg: when his opponent kicks. Given most of Sterling’s striking involves kicking at range, the opponent resorts to doing the same. When the return kick comes, Sterling is ready to catch it and convert it into a single leg. The opponent can turn away akin to Jose Aldo to defend, but this exposes the back as Yan does above.
Sterling also uses the single leg to drive them into the cage and force a clinch, where he can work his final method for exposing the opponent’s back.
Ex 2: vs. Sandhagen
Sandhagen throws a kick, promptly caught by Sterling
Sterling converts the kick to a single leg
And pushes Sandhagen to the fence . . .
Under Hook-Triceps Takedown
Once along the cage, Sterling digs for on under hook while pressuring the opponent into the cage. He slowly inches towards their back to break their posture and acquires a grip on their triceps. With the under hook and body weight pushing them down, and the triceps grip pulling them down, he can essentially complete a mat return and jump on their back.
While pushing Sandhagen into the fence, Sterling digs his under hook and looks to grip Sandhagen’s opposite triceps
Sterling forces Sandhagen down
And jumps on the back once his under hook clears Sandhagen’s arm
Once Sterling has the back, he has multiple tricks he uses in order to maintain control and make hell for his opponents.
Maintain
Given Sterling’s length at 135, the body triangle comes easy to him. When he and his opponent hit the mat, he will immediately lock up the body triangle to cause discomfort and maintain his “backpack position”. From here, Sterling cycles through various options based on the opponents actions in order to maintain control.
1. Constant grip fighting —> open up choke / keep arms occupied
2. Body triangle with leg behind opponent’s
Sterling’s body triangle with his leg hooked behind prevent’s Yan from using both feet to spin and gain posture
3. Opponent shrimps to their side —> Single-hook control
As Yan spins to his side, Sterling keeps one leg under to re-establish the body triangle and keep him from spinning to his back, and uses the other foot as a hook inside Yan’s thigh keeping pressure on his bottom leg to further inhibit his movement. Genius
Sterling will also use a cross-body ride / inside hook body triangle whenever the opponent spins to their side. This frees his upper body to strike, threaten the arm triangle, and flatten them out if need be
4. Opponent turtles —> Cross feet and flatten them out
Sterling uses traditional hooks to (eventually) cross his feet, giving him more leverage to flatten the opponent out as they turtle.
5. Quad-pod —> Double Unders
Sterling grabs double under hooks, pushing Stamann forward while de-basing him from his hands. Though Aljo is higher on the back, double under hooks give him a “wall” that stops gravity from taking him down and off Stamann’s back.
Each of these options is a planned response to the opponent attempts to relinquish Sterling’s back control. Though they occasionally succeed, it is not without incredible effort from the opponent, which only serves to guarantee a round for Sterling and tire his opponent out. The harder they work, the more tired they will be.
In his rematch with Petr Yan, Sterling’s insistent body work and stubborn back control had Yan fatigued in the later rounds. Though Sterling was more tired, it was this initial work on the back that aided him in surviving Yan’s admirable efforts throughout the 4th and 5th.
Attack
While being able to maintain back control is an incredibly useful tool, MMA fights are won with damage. Though Sterling has a reputation for being a decision merchant, he is almost always working towards a submission and doing big damage from top turtle positions.
The first line-of attack for Sterling is the rear-naked choke. When Sterling initially gets the back he immediately begins fighting grips and looking for the choke.
Sterling immediately establishes a cross-face
To begin opening the neck for the rear-naked
If this proves unsuccessful, he will start throwing small punches to the head and body to defer their attention, and start the process over again.
Little punches annoy Sandhagen
So he postures up to escape, but immediately gets grabbed around the neck by Sterling, who still has the body triangle
After some more grip-fighting and small strikes by Sterling, he gets under the neck and finishes the rear-naked in one of his most impressive finishes to date
If the opponent rolls to turtle or their side, Sterling will flatten the opponent out and start throwing huge punches to the head and body. Given his posture he can put a lot of power into these shots and if not the TKO, he will certainly force a reaction from the opponent to re-take traditional back control.
Sterling batters Yan in the second round of their rematch
Finally, if the opponent quad-pods to shake Aljo off, he will threaten the armbar or Suloev Stretch. This will either stall the opponent long-enough for Sterling to re-establish back control, or off-balance them to attempt the submission.
After maintaining the back with double under hooks, Sterling reaches for the ankle to attempt a rare kneebar finish known as the Suloev stretch. He is also in prime position to transition to an armbar from the back, but his crossed feet make the Suleov a safer option.o
And Sterling becomes the first of two-men to ever finish a Suloev stretch in the UFC, both on the same night. Given the level of competition, Sterling’s is certainly the more impressive.
Sterling is a truly unique fighter and dogged competitor that gets under-appreciated due to circumstances outside of his control. If anything, he is an incredible case study in getting, maintaining, and doing damage from back control. If you want to be an expert in back control in MMA, watch the Funk Master.
