Ex-UFC champ Aljamain Sterling books Polaris 25 grappling match with Nathaniel Wood

Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling isn’t going to let the dust settle before he lights the competitive fires again.

Sterling is set to take on fellow UFC fighter Nathaniel Wood – but in a grappling match later this month at Polaris 25. The promotion announced the booking Friday. Polaris 25 takes place Sept. 30 in Wales.

Sterling currently fights at 135 pounds. Wood has a longtime bantamweight who moved to featherweight a little more than a year ago.

Sterling (23-4 MMA, 15-4 UFC) won the bantamweight title in March 2021 by disqualification against Petr Yan. After an injury layoff, he beat Yan again 13 months later. After title defenses against ex-champs T.J. Dillashaw and Henry Cejudo, Sterling ran into a problem.

At UFC 292 in mid-August, he was knocked out by Sean O’Malley in the second round. He lost the belt and had his nine-fight winning streak snapped. He has not yet announced if he’ll move up to featherweight or try to get a bantamweight title rematch.

Wood (20-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) lost to Casey Kenney in 2020. Then he moved from bantamweight to featherweight and it appears to have made a big difference, particularly when looking at his three straight wins against Charles Rosa, Charles Jourdain and Andre Fili.