How a MySpace message from Jon Jones led to Aljamain Sterling starting MMA

Aljamain Sterling was browsing MySpace one day about six years ago and stumbled on some pictures posted by a former wrestling teammate. The photos were of his friend at a gym training in MMA.

At the time, Sterling enjoyed watching the UFC when it was on, but wasn't exactly a hardcore fan. Still, he thought doing some training outside of his wrestling team at SUNY Cortland would be cool. So, he shot a message to his ex-teammate and asked for details. It turned out the fight team worked out in the same upstate New York town Sterling was going to school in.

That former teammate? None other than current UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet. When…