This past Saturday, Aljamain Sterling silenced his haters by beating Petr Yan in the co-main event of UFC 273. He should. Although he was the heavy underdog, Sterling looked much better in this rematch against Yan. He managed to win three rounds using two judges’ scorecards and earned a split decision victory. But despite the fact that Sterling did the thing he told everyone he was going to do, some have still criticized his performance, including UFC President Dana White, who said he believed Yan should have been awarded the decision. Although “The Funk Master”, didn’t enjoy hearing it, he was not surprised at all.

“Dana’s always going to be throwing dirt on my name, that’s just what he does,” Sterling told BJPenn.com. “I think he has Yan rated so highly, he’s such a dangerous guy, to have the grappler do that to him, he was really, really shocked. He probably believed I was not capable of winning the fight .”

, especially after my first fight.

“Sucks to be him right now in the sense of you really wrote me off after everything you have seen that I’ve done in this sport, in his organization, it’s a slap in the face but at the end of the day, it doesn’t bother me. I think it bothers him more, clearly because he doesn’t know how to judge a fight, which it shows. I think he maybe let his emotions get ahead of him and that’s probably it. Yan won that fight, and he was likely very invested in it. I did my best to throw a wrench into their plans .”

White wasn’t the only one who believed Yan should win the fight. Yan, himself, argued strongly against the decision. Former referee John McCarthy (Big) was also in favor of Yan. Sterling responded specifically to John “big stupid John”. Things are obviously slightly different with for Sterling with Dana White as White remains his promoter, and Sterling did not that he and White have a fine personal relationship, even if their business relationship can be strained at times.

“It’s happened in the past, more so the business aspect of things,” Sterling said. “When it comes to outside of the Octagon, whenever we have talked it is super cordial, I’m super polite, he’s super polite and he’s always nice to me. We have always had good conversations but when it comes to the fights he doesn’t really like grapplers like that, unless you are Khabib.”

But White might need to learn to like Sterling. With two victories over Petr Yan the bantamweight champion is likely to remain a favourite regardless of his next fight. And with an impressive performance on Saturday Sterling certainly deserves that title.

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TOP STORIES

Funk Master. Aljamain Sterling happy with UFC 273 performance, rips John McCarthy: ‘That guy sucks’.

Aspirations. A.J. McKee wants $1 million per fight to stay with Bellator, calls becoming UFC champion ‘inevitable’.

Farewell. Marlon Moraes announces his retirement from mixed martial arts.

Response. PFL CEO Peter Murray addresses allegations of betting fraud.

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VIDEO STEW

The MMA Hour.

Top post-fight celebrations.

Francis Nganou reacts to his character in UFC 4.

Trailer for Luque-Muhammad 2.

Casual Guide to Patricio Pitbull.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Victory lap continues rolling.

Do it.

Dustin Poirier.

Cejudo and Bisping.

Aggressive.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

N/A.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Thanks for reading!

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EXIT POLL

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