Aljamain Sterling admits he’s not on the same page with his promoter, but he’d like to be going forward.
UFC president Dana White recently announced UFC 292 for Aug. 19 in Boston, which he said will be headlined by Sterling vs. Sean O’Malley. Days later, however, Sterling indicated he needs to heal up before the fight can happen.
Following Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 224 event in Las Vegas, White used an incredulous tone as he spoke about Sterling in reference to the UFC bantamweight champion’s next title defense.
“Aljo’s one of those guys that just can’t get out of his own way,” White told MMA Junkie and other reporters. “Apparently, he’s in for the fight. Why he said that, who knows? The fight is on. The fight is absolutely, positively on.”
Sterling responded in a video on the “The Weekly Scraps” podcast Monday and questioned why White and the UFC don’t give him the credit and respect he thinks he’s earned.
“If you want me to be the bad guy, tell me behind closed doors, behind the scenes, ‘Aljo, this is what we’re going to do. This is the script. Here it is. … This is what we see. This is what the fans are picking up on you. Why don’t we just take this and turn the volume up and accelerate the noise and make this as crazy as possible,’” Sterling said. “I’m with it. You guys know I like to play a character. I’ll be him.
“Let me be the character, but get me in on the joke. Let’s get on the joke together, but not when you’re going to keep doing this stuff and then making me look like I’m a b*tch. No, you’re not going to keep doing that, dog. F*ck out of here. Dana, get out of here with that.”
Should Sterling fight O’Malley on Aug. 19, it’ll be his second title fight in approximately three months – an atypically quick turnaround for a champion. Sterling confirmed he plans to fight, continuing what he sees as a trend of entertaining the UFC’s requests.
“Every single time they’ve asked me to fight, I’ve saddled up, put my nuts on the table, and showed up every single time. And I won,” Sterling said. “It’s just like, at what point do I get credit from the UFC and Uncle Dana? Dana is super nice behind closed doors, but then he tells me I can’t get out of my own way. I’m like, ‘What does that even mean?’ Just clarify what that means.”
Sterling doesn’t understand why White does raise him up in moments like Saturday’s news conference. Sterling thinks White’s answer was a long, winding roundabout to what he says is the correct answer: the fight will happen Aug. 19. It’s just a matter of how White got there that irks him.
“Why is it so hard for Dana to go… ‘Absolutely the fight is done. We spoke to him. This kid has always shown up to the fight. He always makes weight. He does all the media stuff. We know he’s going to show up. Yeah, he just fought two weeks ago. He’s a little banged up but he gave us his word he’s going to show up for this fight. The kid is a killer. The kid is a stud. Isn’t he awesome?’
“The same way he goes for Conor (McGregor) when Conor does something, ‘Oh my god, isn’t he awesome? Isn’t he awesome?’ Like, can I be awesome, too, Dana? … I’m not asking for much. … Stop playing with my name, bro. If we’re going to do this together, let’s get on the same page. Let’s do this sh*t the right way. ”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.