Sterling: I change my style to appeal to uneducated judges
Aljamain Sterling: “If you don’t know what the hell the martial arts are, why are you a judge?”
It’s one of the most infamous lines in mixed martial arts history, and came after the judges received criticism for giving Lyoto Machida a unanimous decision over Shogun Rua at UFC 104 on October 24, 2009. “You have to keep in mind we always the favor the fighter who is trying to finish the fight,” said Peoples. “And leg kicks certainly don’t do that.”
A black belt for nearly 50 years, People’s “leg kicks certainly don’t finish fights” may reflect a knowledge set that is not state of the art. And it sums up in six words the low regard that some fighters have for judges.
After receiving a unanimous decision over Augusto Mendez, UFC bantamweight Aljamain Sterling said his distrust of judges actually made him a better fighter.
It did kind of did a service for me, if that makes sense, said Sterling as transcribed by John Morgan and Ken Hathaway for MMAjunkie. It was kind of annoying, but at the same time, it kind of did me a service. It made me open up and have a much better performance overall, from punching to kicking to grappling – from just pushing the pace and having a heart.
There are so many different ways that the art of this sport can go, and people don’t really understand the intricacies that go into this. I put my heart and soul into this every single training and every single practice. That’s why it pains me so much.
People may say, ‘Oh, he’s a whiner. He’s a complainer.’ No, man, I just want you guys to give me 100 percent like I’m trying to give you 100 percent. I’m in here busting my ass. For you to just come off the couch and just go and start judging a fight with no real experience, I just think that that’s kind of a slap in the face for what we do for a living.
I realize judges don’t understand what the hell kicks are doing. So I threw a lot less kicks than what I’m really accustomed to, and I had to change my fight style to adapt to what the judges understand because of their lack of experience and lack of understanding of the sport, of what leg kicks and what body kicks do.
People can say that’s disrespectful. I don’t give a s***. If you don’t know what the hell the martial arts are, why are you a judge? Now I’ve got to adapt my style because you’re not smart enough to comprehend what’s actually taking place in the Octagon.
Sterling wants to fight again at UFC Fight Night 112: Chiesa vs. Lee on June 25, 2017 at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
