Morning Report Aljamain Sterling reacts to Dana White saying Petr

Morning Report: Aljamain Sterling reacts to Dana White saying Petr Yan should have won at UFC 273: ‘It’s a slap in the face’

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Last Saturday, Aljamain Sterling silenced his haters by defeating Petr Yan in the co-main event of UFC 273. Or at least he should have. Despite being a strong underdog in his rematch with Yan, Sterling looked significantly better than in their first fight and managed to win the first three rounds on two judges’ scorecards and claim a split decision victory. But despite the fact that Sterling did what he told everyone he would do, some have still criticized his performance, including UFC President Dana White, who said he believed Yan had won the decision must. And while “The Funk Master” didn’t like hearing that, he wasn’t terribly surprised either.

“Dana will always throw dirt on my name, that’s exactly what he does,” Sterling told BJPenn.com. “I think he rated Yan so highly, he’s such a dangerous guy, that the grappler would do that to him, he was really, really shocked. Especially after the first fight because he probably didn’t think I had a chance to win that fight either.”

“Shit, being him now, in the sense that you’ve really written me off, after everything you’ve seen, what I’ve done in this sport, in its organization, it’s a slap in the face, but at the end of the day it does not 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 might have let his emotions take over and it probably was. He was probably really interested in Yan winning that fight and I thwarted their plans.”

White wasn’t the only person who felt Yan should have won the fight. Yan himself immediately argued against the decision, and former referee “Big” John McCarthy also spoke out strongly for Yan, with Sterling specifically responding to “Big Dummer John”. Things are obviously a little different for Sterling with Dana White as White remains his promoter, and Sterling didn’t mean that he and White have a good personal relationship, even though their business relationship can be strained at times.

“It’s happened in the past, especially the business side of things,” Sterling said. “When it comes to the Octagon, every time we’ve spoken it’s super cordial, I’m super polite, he’s super polite and he’s always nice to me. We always had good conversations but when it comes to the fights he doesn’t really like grapplers like that unless you’re Khabib.”

But White may have to get used to liking Sterling. Now with two wins over Petr Yan, the bantamweight champion will likely be a favorite regardless of who he fights next, and with a performance like Saturday’s Sterling totally deserved it.

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