UFC bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling, is looking forward to a potential matchup with former bantamweight champ TJ Dillashaw.
Sterling spoke with the media at the UFC 273 post-fight press conference following his split-decision victory over former UFC bantamweight champion, Petr Yan, in their rematch on Saturday night and addressed why he decided to call out Dillashaw in his post-fight interview.
“The guy’s just been nonstop talking about me, talking about my heart and the spirit of a fighter,” Sterling said (h/t MMA Fighting). “The spirit of a fighter is someone who’s never going to give up if you ask me, and I think I showed that this time. I think I showed that even on my worst night, which was my first performance against Yan. That was a shell of myself and he couldn’t get me out of there that night, and he wasn’t going to get me out of there this night, either. I showed what I’m capable of, and where my mental fortitude is at. You’re going to need a lot more than that to break me and make me quit in there. So I don’t know if that’s what he’s thinking. I don’t know. If anyone’s mentally weak, it’s that guy. The guy needed steroids and [performance-enhancing drug erythropoietin] to catapult his career, to even win as many fights as he did in the UFC. So his whole UFC tenure is tainted. So I can’t wait to punch him in the face. That would be somebody I would enjoy punching. He’s got good skill, but the guy’s a cheat, he’s dirty, and I’d like an opportunity to slap him up, and we can figure out who’s No. 1 again.”
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