Aljamain Sterling has doubled down on ‘Dana White Privilege’.
Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling feels his UFC 292 loss to Sean O’Malley was the company’s preferred outcome.
Aljamain Sterling has stayed relatively quiet since a second-round TKO loss to O’Malley in the UFC 292 headliner. The loss ended his bantamweight title reign after three consecutive title defenses.
Sean O’Malley is arguably one of the biggest stars in the UFC and has already become a pay-per-view draw in his young promotional tenure. While UFC 292 was his first UFC main event of any kind, he’s been a big presence on multiple pay-per-view cards, including UFC 276.
Aljamain Sterling has had a complicated relationship with UFC President Dana White since earning the title by disqualification, and he thinks White had a positive reaction to watching his demise.
During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Sterling explained his brief, post-fight encounter with White.
“I know he was definitely happy,” Aljamain Sterling said. “How could he not be? The golden goose won in a fight/matchup that…the one time out of ten, or two out of ten, it happens. But I think we all knew the writing was on the wall and it was up to me to stick to the script, and the one mistake I knew studying in tape, I literally gave it to the guy on a silver platter.
“If you come rushing at me, and I’m gonna take you down, you just gave me what I wanted. He was in such disbelief ‘That’s it?’…I think he thought it was gonna be harder than what actually happened…but Dana didn’t really say much to me…he just asked ‘Are you okay?’ and that’s it.”
Aljamain Sterling could potentially earn himself a rematch with O’Malley or make the full-time move up to featherweight. In the meantime, he’s focused on making his combat sports return in an upcoming grappling match.
Sean O’Malley is aiming to return in December; potentially against Marlon Vera. Vera is the only fighter he’s lost to during his career.
Aljamain Sterling is back in a rare position of being on the outside looking into the title picture, and he feels White is happy that’s the case.
