Reigning UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is expected to make his next 135-pound title defense against former division kingpin TJ Dillashaw as part of the upcoming UFC 279 pay-per-view (PPV) card on Sept. 10; however, “Funk Master” won’t be signing his “Killashaw” contract until the promotion forks over some extra cash.
“There’s no fight until there’s ink on paper, and as of right now, my contract is exactly the same,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel. “Usually, when it’s not a title fight, when you win a fight, there’s an escalator. There has been no escalator in this fight. I’d like to think that I played my part, did the right things and even allowed myself to be the bad guy in the last outing with Petr Yan, and help play up the storyline. So I did my job. As of right now, I’m training, hoping that we come to some type of agreement to give some type of pay bump – which naturally happens in all the contracts.”
Sterling (21-3) made his Octagon debut as part of the UFC 170 pay-per-view (PPV) event back in early 2014 and has since compiled a 13-3 record. In addition, the streaking “Funk Master” is now the winner of seven straight, which includes back-to-back victories over former 135-pound champion Petr Yan.
“For me, I want to make sure we get the deal right before we just jump into another fight,” Sterling continued. “Because at the end of the day, I climbed through the ranks, I worked my ass off, and I played my position in terms of helping to promote the fights, which a lot of these guys don’t even do. I’m here to be a company man, and at the same time, I want to look out for my best interests. There’s a fine line where there’s a balance where getting both of those done can happen.”
The way UFC is handing out interim titles these days, I don’t like his chances.