‘Cut the games’: Sterling tells Dana White he deserves shot at Yan

Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC

UFC bantamweight contender Aljamain Sterling tells Dana White to ‘cut the games’ and give him the first shot at Petr Yan.

After this weekend’s UFC 251 the UFC’s bantamweight title has a new home. It left Yas Island with Petr Yan after he defeated iconic former featherweight champion Jose Aldo by 5th round TKO. Yan earned his shot at the title—vacant since the retirement of Henry Cejudo—by beating Urijah Faber last December.

With a new champion comes a slew of new contenders. One of those contenders is 2nd ranked bantamweight Aljamain Sterling, last seen submitting Cory Sandhagen at UFC 250. Yesterday Sterling took to Twitter to campaign for a shot of Yan, while also revealing his frustrations at the current state of UFC matchmaking.

“There is nothing to think about [Dana White]!” wrote Sterling (per Nick Baldwin of theScore). “I am the next guy in line! I earned my shot and it’s time for me to realize a dream! Cut the games!”

With his win over Sandhagen at the UFC APEX facility last month, Sterling extended his current win streak to five-fights. During that streak he has defeated Brett Johns, Cody Stamann, Jimmie Rivera and Pedro Munhoz.

In response to a tweet from TSN’s Aaron Bronsteter ‘Funkmaster’ touted his recent resume as evidence that he deserves to be in a title fight.

“Sandhagen has a better resume than Yan, and I finished the fight early!” argued Sterling. “What [the f—k] else do I need to do?! Seriously starting feel like I’m the most hated guy by the UFC brass. [Where the f—k] did I go wrong? Must be that I’m good at grappling just like the 155 lb king.”

During his tweet storm Sterling said that Dana White doesn’t “know yet” who will take on Petr Yan for the Russian’s first defense. Sterling took issue with this given that White seems to have a clear plan for the UFC’s welterweight championship.

“He can’t think past Wednesday, but knows [Gilbert Burns] is next. Like what?!”

Later Sterling wrote that recent events have left him baffled at “the direction [MMA] has gone.”

“I wish [the UFC would] just come out and say, ‘the UFC rankings don’t mean s—t. We’re just gonna do whatever [the f—k] we want bud.’ All this hustling and I can’t ever get a clear road. My star will keep shining!”