There’s been a change in the main event for Polaris 25 on September 30th, 2023 but former UFC bantamweight world champion Aljamain Sterling is still going to be featured. It’s great news for fans who are planning on watching the event, as Sterling was undoubtedly one of the most interesting aspects of the event. He was originally booked to face fellow UFC veteran Nathaniel Wood but after he was forced to withdraw from the event, Mike Grundy has stepped into replace him at the last minute.
Grundy is also a popular MMA fighter from the UK and a UFC veteran, although he actually has a significantly higher level of grappling pedigree than Wood. He had an extensive background in wrestling long before he ever embarked on a professional MMA career, and spent several years competing against some of the best around Europe and the world. Grundy attempted to qualify for the Olympics and competed in the European Championship multiple times, but his biggest achievement came in 2014 when he earned a bronze medal from the Commonwealth Games.
That was the same year that Grundy made the transition to MMA and quickly put together an impressive 12-1 professional record that earned him a UFC contract. He went 1-3 in the UFC and was released from the promotion, so Grundy will undoubtedly be eager to cause a huge upset and get the win over Sterling. Meanwhile, Sterling has only recently been dethroned as the UFC bantamweight world champion and a win here could be the start of him regaining his title. Along with the battle between Aljamain Sterling and Mike Grundy, Polaris 25 will also feature several fun preliminary card matchups and a stacked absolute grand prix tournament with a grand prize of $30,000.
Polaris announced the news that Aljamain Sterling would be facing Mike Grundy instead of Nathaniel Wood in the main event of Polaris 25 in a recent post to their official Instagram account:
