Aljamain Sterling feels he was pressured by UFC brass to defend his title in opposition to Sean O’Malley.
Three months after he retained his bantamweight title in a five-round battle in opposition to Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 in Could 2023, Sterling (24-4 MMA, 16-4 UFC) was booked to defend his title in opposition to O’Malley (18-1 MMA, 10-1 UFC) at UFC 292 in August 2023. Sterling wished extra time to get well from nagging accidents, however finally accepted the struggle. He was knocked out in Spherical 2.
In hindsight, Sterling thinks he shouldn’t have accepted the comparatively fast turnaround. Sterling’s negotiations with UFC government vp and chief enterprise officer Hunter Campbell have been included in current documentary sequence “Combat Inc: Contained in the UFC.” Wanting again, he didn’t like how the state of affairs was offered.
“I do know we’ve seen the video circulating throughout social media, (the) dialog between myself, my administration (Tiki Ghosn), and Hunter,” Sterling mentioned on his YouTube channel. “I wasn’t actually excited to see that clip once more as a result of I needed to relive all these feelings once more. It sort of riled me up slightly bit as a result of it actually did piss me off in that second of time. Simply sort of how all the pieces unfolded.
“If you happen to take a look at the sequence of occasions, I had simply fought. I had a extremely exhausting coaching camp to make that weight lower. I fought one of many biggest fight athletes of all time in Henry Cejudo. 5 rounds, exhausting struggle, after which the evening of the struggle – and that is simply the sequence of occasions. They don’t make fights the evening of the struggle, however one way or the other, for no matter motive, my struggle specifically simply occurred to be made that evening.”
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Sterling admits the higher man gained on the evening, however doesn’t assume he obtained a good shake. He wished a chance to heal and see how his physique holds up, however says he succumbed to the stress when he was within the sizzling seat with Campbell.
“You’re telling me I can sit out, however you then’re additionally telling me, ‘Nicely, in case you don’t struggle, you then don’t struggle for nearly a yr,’ and that’s not cool both,” Sterling mentioned. “So that you virtually tie my palms behind my again, however I take the trail the place I used to be like, ‘You already know what? If I’m going to roll the cube as a result of my teammates and my managers are all pushing me to do it, I’m going to roll the cube.’”
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