Outside Source
Sterling defeated former UFC champion Benson Henderson in a wrestling match via fall at RAF 6 on Saturday. The former UFC bantamweight champion is now calling for a featherweight title shot against Alexander Volkanovski. Sterling also slammed Diego Lopes’ performance in his title rematch against Volkanovski at UFC 325 this past January.
Advertisement
“I’ve been with the company since 2014, been calling my shot, defending the belt the most in the bantamweight division,” Sterling said at the said at the RAF post-fight press conference. “Give me my f——ing shot. I deserve a shot at the title, OG vs OG. I’m smarter than all these dumb motherf—-ers out there… Diego Lopes gets a f—-ng rematch, and he goes out there and fights worse after actually doing decent in the first fight. He can’t figure out how to do a lateral step to cut the cage.”
‘I’ve Never Turned Down Anybody’
Sterling is also ready to take on featherweight contenders like Yair Rodriguez, Jean Silva or Youssef Zalal. “Funkmaster” claims he has never turned down a fight despite being offered unfavorable matchups. Sterling believes the UFC brass never offers him opponents of his choice as they want to see him lose.
“You want to give me Yair Rodriguez? I’ll fight him,” Sterling said. “You want to give me Jean Silva? I’ll fight him. You gonna give me Youssef Zalal? I’ll fight him. I’ve never turned down anybody. These guys have asked me for opponents who I wan to fight, and then they give me somebody complete opposite. Because they want to see me lose. That’s my perspective.”
Sterling (25-5) won the bantamweight title against Petr Yan via disqualification in 2021 and defended it thrice before losing it to Sean O’Malley in 2023. Sterling then moved up to featherweight, where he has sandwiched a loss against Movsar Evloev between wins over Calvin Kattar and Brian Ortega. The 36-year-old has often been criticiized for inaction with his wrestling-heavy style.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
Help support MMACrazies.com when you shop Amazon by starting your online Amazon shopping at MMACrazies.com/recommends/amazon. You are not charged extra, but we receive a small and very helpful commission on everything you purchase. Thanks for thinking of us every time you shop at Amazon.
