UFC bantamweight Aljamain Sterling estimates he’s gone back and forth with Jimmie Rivera for at least a half-decade.

Much of their grudge is driven by social media. Sterling (16-3 MMA, 8-3 UFC) can’t help himself and stalks Rivera (22-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) online. It’s a habit that’s touched off more than a few squabbles, including one with Rivera’s wife.

Now that a fight between them is finally happening next month, Sterling is up to his old habits and using negative comments to motivate him against his fellow East Coaster.

“Someone said, ‘Sterling has no hands, or Aljo has no hands,'” Sterling told reporters backstage at UFC on ESPN+ 1 over the weekend. “I’m like, one, we’re not friends – you don’t talk about me like that. And you don’t use that nickname, those are for my friends. And, two, I just put hashtag, ‘We will see.’ Because we’re going to find out.

“I guarantee I’m going to piece him up. And that’s the gameplan: Piece him up, take him down and choke him out.”

Sterling, who meets Rivera at UFC on ESPN 1 on Feb. 17, has been lobbying to fight Rivera for several years to no avail. But with both suffering setbacks to division standout Marlon Moraes, the bantamweight landscape has changed and a showdown finally makes sense.

It could even be the turnaround needed to earn a title shot, Sterling said. “This one’s going to propel the next guy forward in terms of who’s going to be the next guy in line.”

When he gave the interview, a superfight between flyweight champ Henry Cejudo and bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw had yet to take place. Sterling thought a Dillashaw victory would be better for his title prospects. But with Cejudo’s first-round knockout, that might not be the case with both fighters interested in a bantamweight rematch.

Still, Sterling is optimistic about his future now that he gets a chance to put his hands on Rivera in Phoenix.

“I think it’s going to be between Jimmie and I,” Sterling said.

You can watch Sterling’s full scrum with reporters in the video above.

And for more on UFC on ESPN 1, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.