Roman Bravo-Young has been a rising star in the college wrestling world, but his popularity is about to take on another level. Bravo-Young was trolling when he sent out a tweet saying he wants to wrestle an MMA fighter for charity to teach Jake Paul how to fight, following Paul's knockout of former NBA player Nate Robinson.
Most MMA Fighters couldnt pin a tweet...I challenge anyone to a wrestling match for Charity. The $$$ goes to help teach @jakepaul how to fight.
— Roman Bravo-Young (@RomanBravoYoung) December 6, 2020
His troll tweet was sent in good fun, but it did not go unanswered. The current No. 1 ranked bantamweight in the UFC, Aljamain Sterling, responded, and the match has been signed for the Nittany Lion Wrestling Club's next card on December 22nd.
What weight https://t.co/cElWlgHC3S
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) December 6, 2020
Sterling has developed into one of the best MMA fighters in the world since his UFC debut in 2014. He's currently on a five-match winning streak, and his victory in June over Cody Sandhagen has put him in line to be the next challenger for Petr Yan's UFC Bantamweight title. The fight was scheduled for December 12th, but Yan withdrew from the fight for undisclosed reasons per ESPN's Marc Raimondi and Ariel Helwani. As a result, Sterling has a wide-open December, and he chose to respond to Bravo-Young's challenge.
Sterling was a late starter in wrestling and did not start until he was in high school, but picked it up quickly. He even earned the nickname "The Funkmaster" to describe his unorthodox wrestling style.
Looks like its time to dust off the wrestling shoes! Gotta remind the young bucks how I got my nickname!#FunkMaster https://t.co/n1pIWSQIlv
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) December 6, 2020
ESPN wrote an article about Sterling's upbringing and his rise from never wrestling to finishing his college career with an 87-27 record, and as a two-time Division III All-American at SUNY-Cortland. I suggest anyone looking to learn more about Sterling read it because his story is very inspirational and shows what heart the guy has.
Bravo-Young unquestionably has the better resume as a wrestler. He's a Big Ten finalist, NCAA All-American, and he has wins over Seth Gross and Austin Desanto (2x). He will be the favorite when these two lock up. Bravo-Young's star in wrestling and outside of wrestling is going to grow ever bigger, which is impressive enough since he's been featured on ESPN's Top Ten and is one of the most electric talents in all of college wrestling.
However, do not tune into Rokfin and expect Sterling to go quietly into the night. He's a fighter and will do everything he can to try and shock the world. It should be an interesting and exciting matchup.
