Aljamain Sterling reiterates his strong disinterest in facing Sean O'Malley at UFC 292, scheduled for August 19.
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Aljamain Sterling reiterates his strong disinterest in facing Sean O’Malley at UFC 292, scheduled for August 19, 2023, at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. With this statement, Sterling aims to remind both fight enthusiasts and the UFC leadership, including Dana White and associates, of his clear reluctance towards the matchup.
The lack of surprise among those familiar with the situation is understandable. UFC President Dana White wasted no time in announcing the O’Malley vs. Sterling matchup for UFC 292, immediately following Aljamain Sterling’s victory over Henry Cejudo at UFC 288. With a mere three-month interval between title defenses, such a timeline is considered unconventional in the current landscape of the sport. However, Sterling expressed his opposition to the booking, resulting in immediate criticism from White.
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Presently, Aljamain Sterling has reluctantly come to terms with accepting the fight, although his dissatisfaction is evident. The three-time Bantamweight champion recently discussed the circumstances during a recent episode of his YouTube show, “The Weekly Scraps.”
“People don’t understand how much time I actually put into the sport,” he said (via MMA News). “Sometimes, you could get a little burned out. Sometimes that can take a lot out of you mentally. That’s why after this [UFC 288] fight, I had so much things with Henry, so many things planned out, that I just wanted to decompress and stop thinking about fighting for once because I do so much to get to the fight and prep myself to mentally get ready for battle. I had that just kinda ripped from underneath my legs.
“Now I’m like, ‘Okay, this time you motherf—ers are not doing this to me again.’” he continued. “I’m gonna fight, even though it’s literally against my will. People can say whatever. If Dana were to hear this, Hunter [Campbell] were to hear this, they would say, ‘Oh, we’re not making him do anything.’ Let’s be real here, bro. Come on, dude. You kinda are. You kinda are. Let’s call a spade a spade.”
Aljamain Sterling explained that he had the option to straightforwardly reject the fight offer, telling them not to contact him anymore. However, he acknowledged the existence of undisclosed factors behind the scenes that influenced his decision.
Despite knowing he wouldn’t receive any appreciation for it, he chose to accept the fight once again, hoping it would establish some goodwill for future dealings. He also expressed a desire to have the opportunity to enjoy his life and the rewards of his hard work after this bout.
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