Aljamain Sterling is not happy about how the UFC is strong-arming him into a bout with Renan Barao outside his regular weight class.
Aljamain Sterling isn’t a happy man. When he signed on to fight Renan Barao at UFC 214, the contract said the fight would take place at 135 pounds - his regular weight class. However, the California State Athletic Commission wouldn’t allow Barao to fight at that weight, as he has had major issues making 135 in the past when competing in the state. They will allow the fight to take place at a catchweight of 140 pounds - something that Sterling feels favors his opponent.
Sterling explained how the wrangling went with the UFC regarding the weight change. Basically, he asked for extra money to take the fight at 140, thinking that he should be compensated for it. Unfortunately, the UFC didn’t agree with him and offered the bout at UFC 215 instead (which would take CSAC out of the equation). They apparently also threatened to cancel the bout altogether. He told MMA Fighting he doesn’t see anything wrong with the request:
“You got Dana [White] bringing snow to Las Vegas and having Kendrick Lamar perform at his house, while I’m trying to ask for $10,000, 20,000,” Sterling said. “And that’s such a big deal? To fight a guy who’s a former world champion, I think that’s more than fair.
“I want to fight him at the weight class that makes sense. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with asking for money, to get paid and compensated for fighting up four pounds, which means he gets a little bit bigger. I get to get a little bit bigger, too, but I feel like cutting down to 136 is an advantage for me, because I can recover a lot better than he does.”
“Those guys don’t know what the f--k they’re talking about,” Sterling said. “I don’t think they understand what sport we’re doing, what the goal is. I don’t know what their goal is. Just to fight? They just want to fight just to fight? I don’t know. Go do some backyard brawls or some sh-t. I’m in this to change my life, to change my fortunes. I’m not in there to just fight for free. I fight for people’s entertainment, but at the same time that entertainment comes at a cost. I got to the pinnacle of the sport for a reason and that’s to make money. I didn’t come here just to give handouts.”
Sterling hasn’t signed the bout agreement for the 140-pound fight yet, despite the bout being scheduled to take place in 26 days. But he did seem to indicate that he would, just to shut Barao up:
“Featherweight, catchweight, 135. I just want to fight the guy at this point. He wants to run his mouth and say all this stupid shit, we’ll see who’s who and we’ll see who’s gonna do what.”
UFC 214 goes down in Anaheim, CA on July 29th.