Aljamain Sterling Drops Half-Scary Update on Bicep Paralysis After UFC Shanghai

Aljamain Sterling revealed he suffered temporary bicep paralysis during his unanimous decision win over Brian Ortega at UFC Shanghai. However, no report made clear the severity of the injury. The Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist has now followed that up with a concerning video posted just a day later, which exposed the true extent of his elbow injury.

Aljamain Sterling Posts Instagram Update Showing His Swollen Arm

The former bantamweight champion dominated Ortega with a 50-45 scorecard sweep despite dealing with a “numb/dead” arm for most of the final round. Sterling’s spinning elbow in Round 4 misfired, leaving him damaged enough he could no longer defend or attack the right way.

“That last elbow I landed in round four, I really couldn’t even keep my arm up to defend myself,” Sterling explained after the fight. “I was like, this is like a living nightmare right now.”

Aljamain Sterling reveals on the #UFCShanghai post show that he suffered some kind of elbow injury that had him severely compromised but he was able to persevere, get a takedown and not allow Brian Ortega to comeback on him

— Damon Martin (@DamonMartin) August 23, 2025

Despite his injured arm, Sterling managed to keep Ortega on the defensive and out of range of his power shots. The win came at catchweight after Ortega missed the 145-pound limit. However, Sterling had put on an all-around striking performance before the self-inflicted injury derailed the momentum he built up.

Sterling didn’t hide the severity of his condition, posting a video on Instagram that showed significant swelling in his elbow area. “Use the spinning stuff they said 😂 This might take a while to heal,” the 36-year-old wrote alongside the video.

He added, “It was hard to keep up activity after losing this weapon but I did my best to stay as offensive as I could, while trying to avoid the big shots from Brian. My arm was numb/dead, so that sucked.”

 

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A post shared by Aljamain Sterling (@funkmastermma)

Sterling praised Ortega’s durability, noting he fought “a guy that’s never been finished other than a doctor stoppage.” The injury appears neurological, possibly involving nerve compression or trauma from the elbow strike.

This candid post revealed how severely his arm was compromised during the fight. The timeline for recovery remains unclear, which could impact his plans for a potential featherweight title shot against Alexander Volkanovski.

The worried community praised his ability to adapt and showered him with love for his fighting IQ, as he used one arm effectively to snatch the victory.

Fans React to Aljamain Sterling’s Half-Humor Instagram Post

Fight fans flooded Sterling’s Instagram with several reactions. Most of them ranged from concern to humor about his self-inflicted injury.

“Only damage you got was self inflicted 😂. Great fight, well done!” one fan wrote, pointing out the irony of his most serious injury coming from his own technique.

“Your elbow has an elbow 😂” another joked about the swelling visible in the video. One added, “That elbow is PREGNANT.”

Several fans showed genuine concern for his recovery. “Fkn hell 😮 yeah take time to relax allow it to heal, a bit of time off is well earned 👏” one supporter wrote.

A fifth user noted, “Get well soon brother 🙌.” 

Others praised his performance despite the injury. “Bro stand up looked incredible,” noted one fan, while another added, “More fighters need to show their post fight injuries so dummies on the internet understand what they gotta go through.”

Sterling’s injury update revolves around a half-humor, half-truth note. This may have led MMA fans to react without serious emotion to his elbow injury. As a result, their responses reflected the usual mix of support and humor.