“Maybe Because I Am Not Conor” – Despite Ugly Spat With Dana White, Harsh Reality Accepted by Aljamain Sterling

Published 05/29/2023, 3:32 AM EDT

UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling recently got into it with his boss Dana White in a public war of words. Sterling has since then declared that he has no ill will against White and pacified the situation. However, the brief but heated statements from the two exposed the cutthroat negotiation tactics that happen behind the curtains at the UFC.

The issues started following UFC 288, where Sterling successfully defended his title against Henry Cejudo. Following the win, ‘Aljo’ called out Sean O’Malley for his next fight. ‘Funkmaster’ was yelling September, thus stating his preferred timeline. However, Dana White announced the fight will go down on August 19 at UFC 292. This is where things went south, as Sterling later revealed he was in the dark about the fight happening in August.

Both White and Sterling have gone back and forth since then, with Sterling asking for due credit for his efforts, and White being frustrated over Sterling’s comments. However, both parties have ceased fire for the moment and the fight will go on as announced. Meanwhile, Sterling gave the fans a better look into dealing with Dana White.

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Aljamain Sterling talks about his relationship with Dana White

Aljamain Sterling recently uploaded a Q&A session on his YouTube channel, where he discussed quite a few hot topics. The 33-year-old talked about his upcoming fight against O’Malley, the BMF title fight at UFC 291, and his back-and-forth with Dana White during the conversation.

Speaking of White, Sterling said they had a good relationship with the UFC boss giving him valuable advice. He said, “Behind the scenes, he’s always great to me. He’s given me advice on my personal, family stuff. Good advice on how to keep my money and things like that. So I can’t say Dana [White]’s a bad guy. I really can’t.”

However, the ‘Funkmaster’ could not say the same about the business side of the 53-year-old. He said he did not get his due credits, adding that White had different faces in public and in person. Sterling attributed this to his role as a promoter.

He said, “But, in terms of giving me a fair shake in the press, maybe because I’m not Conor [McGregor], and we’ve seen Dana go one way with the fighter and then completely 180 with the next way and then he’ll go do a 180 again. It’s just, he’s a promoter.”

This isn’t the first time the fighter made a Conor McGregor comparison. In another recent conversation, the American spoke about White and McGregor’s relationship. Sterling even asked if he too could be “awesome” like McGregor.

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He added, “This is what he does, and he’s gonna do whatever is in the best interest of the company and himself and I get that. At least, I get that but, again, I’m gonna say my piece on my platform.”

Aljamain Sterling is already proving to be one of the most successful bantamweight champions in UFC history. Regardless of the opinions about him, Sterling has shut his doubters up in the last few fights.

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Do you think he will do the same against Sean O’Malley? And what are your thoughts on his comments about White? Let us know in the comments below.

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Written by:

Yeswanth Praveen is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports, having written over 500 articles on the sport. With a Master’s degree in English Literature, Yeswanth expertly combines his writing and storytelling skills with his passion for MMA. He was initially drawn to the sport after the intense rivalry between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov captured his attention.

Edited by:

Rohini Kottu

“Maybe Because I Am Not Conor” – Despite Ugly Spat With Dana White, Harsh Reality Accepted by Aljamain Sterling

Aljamain Sterling talks about his relationship with Dana White

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