Aljamain Sterling wants more money to take on T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 279.
The UFC bantamweight champ stopped fighting with the ex-champion less than 24 after several media outlets claimed it was being promoted for its Sept. 10 pay per-view.
” There’s no fighting until there is ink on the paper. As of now, my contract remains exactly the same,” Sterling stated on his YouTube channel.
In a previous video, Sterling revealed his base pay was $400,000 for a UFC 273 rematch against Petr Yan, which he won by split decision. UFC champions also typically share in pay-per-view profits from numbered events, the total of which isn’t available for several months.
Sterling indicated he wanted an “escalator” similar to the contracts of non-champions, which for every win bump up a fighter’s pay by several thousand dollars.
In his case, Sterling believes it’s a fair exchange for the work he did promoting UFC 273, a fight where he was widely cast as the heel for winning the title via disqualification at UFC 259.
“There was no escalator during this fight,” Sterling stated. “I’d like to think I played my part, did the right things, and even allowed myself to be the bad guy in the last outing with Petr Yan, and help play up the storyline.
“One would assume that being a man in a company would be beneficial for you over the long-term. So, I completed my job. As of now, I am training. I hope that we can come to an agreement to offer some kind of pay increase which is a natural part of all contracts .”
Sterling stated that neither he nor his management have received any official confirmation regarding the Dillashaw fight, or about its exact location. To address his concerns, he wants to meet with UFC officials.
“For me, I want to make sure we get the deal right before we just jump into another fight, because at the end of the day, I climbed through the ranks, I worked my ass off, and I played my position in terms of helping to promote the fights, which a lot of these guys don’t even do,” he said. He said, “I am here to serve my company, but at the same I will look out for your best interests.” There’s a fine line where there’s a balance where getting both of those done can happen.”
So no matter what has been reported thus far, Sterling said until he meets with the UFC, “there is no fight. I am not going to defend against anyone. I’m on vacation until then, but I’m training getting myself back.”
In revealing his pay, Sterling issued a passionate rebuttal to one-time title challenger Michael Chandler on the issue of fighter pay, arguing that fighters deserve a larger slice of the revenue for the work they put in to get to a title.
Check out the full video above.
