Caraway: Sterling not a fighter at heart
Caraway spoke to MMAJunkie ahead of his fight to discuss what he thinks of Sterling as an opponent and why he believes he has the advantage in the fight.
Aljamain Sterling is undefeated in professional mixed martial arts career and 3-0 inside the UFC Octagon, but UFC 199 Bryan Caraway believes deep down he is not a fighter, but just a good athlete.
Caraway spoke to MMAJunkie ahead of his fight to discuss what he thinks of Sterling as an opponent and why he believes he has the advantage in the fight:
Caraway said he thinks Sterling, a product of the Serra-Longo Fight Team in New York that produced former middleweight champion Chris Weidman, is a good athlete. But that’s his point.
Being an athlete, Caraway thinks, and being a fighter are two different things.
I think him with his outbursts of (expletive) talking, I think that’s his own insecurities trying to pump himself up, Caraway said. He feels himself slipping a little bit – you can clearly see the guy’s afraid to get punched. I’m not taking away that he’s an athlete – he’s clearly an athlete. He’s No. 4 in the world for a reason. But I don’t think the guy’s a fighter in his heart. I think he’s a good athlete. I think he knows that and he’s realizing this is going to be a fight and not just a grappling/wrestling match. That’s the result of him trying to pump himself up.
