LAS VEGAS – Aljamain Sterling has dealt with an array of critics since claiming the UFC bantamweight championship, and he can’t wait to silence everybody.
Sterling (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) captured the title from Petr Yan by disqualification after Yan struck him with an illegal knee that rendered him unable to continue this past March at UFC 259. The two men expected to run things back but not until the end of the year because of Sterling’s neck surgery.
Since their fight, Sterling and Yan have continuously traded barbs, with Yan accusing Sterling of exaggerating the effect of the knee to take the easy way out. The criticism has bothered Sterling, who thinks Yan has experienced a much easier road to the top and should be paying the consequences for breaking rules in the fight.
“He had a layup,” Sterling told reporters, including MMA Junkie, backstage at UFC 264. “That was the worst performance that I could remember in a very long time, and he had a slam dunk to bring it home and solidify everything and shut up all the critics for himself because he never fought anyone in the top five. I fought three guys in the top five. I beat them all, but I’m the paper champ? It’s ironic, but at the end of the day, I think this is a blessing in disguise. I feel good, I feel healthy, and I can’t wait to just remind the world that what I’ve done was no accident and what he’s done, he got here with the Dana White privilege, and I can’t wait to shut him up.”
Yan (15-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) has been relentless on social media, taking shots at Sterling at every occasion possible. But Sterling thinks it’s surpassed pre-fight trash talk, and he isn’t a fan of Yan as a person.
“He’s a sh*t talker, and he’s not a good dude,” Sterling said. “F*ck that guy. He’s not a good guy. I don’t think he’s a good person. The guy makes fun of homeless people. He’s not a good guy.”
He continued, “I think he’s a pretty sh*tty person outside of the sport, and I think his character speaks volumes about who he is as a person and as an individual. I know what it’s like to be at the bottom, and I’ve worked super hard to get to this position so for him to do that to other people he doesn’t know. He can go f*ck himself.”
UFC champ Aljamain Sterling blasts ‘sh*tty person’ Petr Yan, eager to ‘shut him up’ in rematch
