Aljamain Sterling finally got his title shot, and was doing well vs. bantamweight Petr Yan, but started to fade, and appeared on his way out, when “No Mercy” landed a knee on his downed opponents, and was disqualified. It was the first time a UFC title was awarded due to disqualification.
During a recent interview with Nolan King for MMA Junkie, Sterling talked about it all.
It bothers me that I got tired so quickly halfway through the second,” said Sterling. “I don’t know what I’m blaming it on, but I think there’s a couple of pieces of things I’d done differently. My water load for one.
The strength and conditioning was a little different. I don’t think it was that, though. I had a great output in my sparring sessions with strike counts and my wrestling takedown and expenditure for getting submissions, getting takedowns, and even against the guys who are tough to take down who are jiu-jitsu black belts, guys from Dagestan who wrestle in Dagestan and have good wrestling bases. ([Still] able to get them down, or them taking me down and me being able to get back up.
Sterling does not usually eat in fight day, but he’s reexamining that plan.
I think that might be the thing because I felt my energy going in the backroom and when we were getting on the bus, I didn’t feel good, said Sterling. I felt weak. I felt fatigued and I just felt like something was just wrong. If I had a performance like that on a compromised gas tank, I think the future is bright. I just got to make a little adjustment.
Photos of Sterling celebrating post-fight did not impress some on the social network, but the fighter offered a compelling response.
I didn’t post a single picture of me celebrating like I won anything, he said. I won by default. I don’t feel like a champ. I didn’t post anything for that specific reason. Normally, after every fight, I post something. I post something in celebration of what happened. I made a post of me being out with my fiancee. Not me having the belt because the people put it on my shoulder like, ‘You deserve this. No, you deserve it. Put it on. Put it on.’ I didn’t want that. They flew all the way here. They paid their money. They came to the house. They gave me support. If they want to do that, OK, I understand it. I can’t tell them to put their phones away and not post anything if they want to post.
I didn’t drink. I had a sip of a champagne. I had a toast and said pretty much, ‘I’m sorry I let everyone down. I know you guys are still proud of me and I will validate the belt when I get this rematch. Hopefully, the next one I feel a lot better. I felt off. I’m sorry and I know you guys know my trainings are way more intense than my fight and we will get the next one. Just thank you guys for all coming out.’ I took a sip, I didn’t drink for the rest of the night. A couple hours later, I threw up. That’s my celebration for everyone who says I was out there, ra-ra-ing.
In terms of my mind and how things went, I don’t feel like the champ. That’s the motivation right there, to show the world I can keep that pace for 25 minutes. … I’m always going to try to find a way when there is time on that clock. I think the fans definitely would (recognize that) or maybe they do, maybe they don’t. Maybe they’d appreciate that in terms of my tenacity and how I come to the octagon. I plan on coming out of the gate the same exact way, so I hope he’s ready for that. He better be ready for that.
