Aljamain Sterling does not believe T.J. Dillashaw deserves the next bantamweight title shot.
Sterling won a split decision against Petr Yan at UFC 273, to keep his bantamweight title. Following his victory, he called for a bout against two-time bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw. “The Funk Master,” however, doesn’t think Dillashaw is the right man to take on his belt.
“When I thought about it afterward, I was like, he really doesn’t deserve it,” Sterling told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. “He really didn’t earn it. Maybe it’s just because I heard the narrative so much, that he was gonna be getting the winner of myself and Yan when we were supposed to fight in Abu Dhabi. … So maybe I just got wrapped up in that.
” In all honesty, I believe there is someone more worthy than Rob Font. If we are using the merit system, that would be Aldo. This would be the best in merit. What have you done lately for me? Dominick Cruz, even – all these men got huge names. T.J., I don’t know how he got in the mix, but somehow I just felt like he was the next guy, so I just threw it out there. I wasn’t even really thinking about it, to be honest.”
Dillashaw was famously stripped of his title, after he tested positive for EPO in 2019.. After serving two-year USADA suspension, he returned to the octagon in 2021, winning a controversial split decision over Cory Sandhagen. Despite the controversy surrounding the ex-champ, the UFC appears to favor him as the next for Sterling.
Even though Sterling doesn’t think Dillashaw deserves it, he’s not opposed to the fight.
“I was aware he was there and I also know what the UFC is trying to accomplish, so I said his name. It’s an enjoyable fight. His fans are familiar with him. He has a great resume. To beat someone like that adds to both my resume and my legacy…
” I’m here to make money. I think all these guys, in my opinion, are relatively the same in terms of skill set, so I think if I had to pick, T.J.’s fine with me.”
One man who won’t be fine with it, though, is Petr Yan. Yan claimed that he should have been awarded the decision by judges after his defeat to Sterling. This belief was shared by UFC President Dana White. And while Sterling has been clear he’s happy to finally be able to move on from Yan, the bantamweight champion says he’d be happy to face his nemesis a third time some time in the future.
“If he wants to be 0-3 against ‘The Funk,’ we can make it happen,” Sterling said. “If you take a look at his records, you will see that two losses were from him. So if he wishes to make it three, then we can.”
Sterling wants to be off the grid for now. After a year where he was on the receiving end of a tremendous amount of hate and backlash, the bantamweight champion is planning to take some time off to celebrate.
“It’s been a long 13 months,” Sterling said. “To be able to just be a human — I don’t even want to think about fighting right now. This was the outcome of what I had to do, no matter how much it cost me. Decompress, relax, and get the eff away from everything. Be a person, lead a normal lifestyle, and maybe get fat. Because I was unable to enjoy my life as I desired, I lost a lot time and felt like the world needed me to prove it to them
“This is it. It’s just chilling. Kick my feet up, relax, get away from the sport a little bit. Travel is what I long for. COVID took away two years from the world, and it would be nice to kind of be able to enjoy the work I’ve put in since 2019 against Pedro [Munhoz]. I haven’t really been able to do much. Sandhagen was the Yan fighter, and Sandhagen is now fighting in this fight.
“So we’ll see. I don’t think I’m coming back until September, or maybe even longer. I don’t know. I’m gonna see how I feel. Three fights would be great. I told myself this, but that all depends on where I am at the moment. It’s something I have to try. If I start getting the itch, then we’ll jump in and we’ll get something going, but I want to make sure I’m well-prepared, not just jumping in because the UFC is telling me to jump in.”
