Aljamain Sterling’s Bantamweight reign of terror continues.
At UFC 288 this past weekend (May 6, 2023), Sterling and the former two-division UFC champion, Henry Cejudo, finally settled their ongoing beef. It was a highly-skilled and closely contested affair, but ultimately, “Funkmaster” walked away once again hearing “and still,” scoring the split decision victory (full recap).
Despite competing in more of a home game in Newark, N.J., Sterling was on the receiving end of boos aplenty. Unfortunately for both men, the main event wasn’t awarded “Fight of the Night” honors.
Aljamain Sterling: If you made money off of me, send me that money, man. #TheMMAHour pic.twitter.com/EwIvu7LcTc
— Jed I. Goodman © (@jedigoodman) May 8, 2023
“That’s actually a cool way if you don’t get the Fight of the Night bonus, maybe you get like $0.50 as kind of like a buy-in, ‘Yo, great fight,’” Sterling told The MMA Hour on the idea of fans chipping in. “You get a couple thousand people giving you $0.50 or a $1, that goes a pretty long way, man.
“I like that. If you made money off me, send me that money, man,” he concluded.
The normally-villainized champion went on to share his cash accounts and received some newfound fan love in the form of generous donations post-fight.
“Just checked my Venmo and Cash app account!” Sterling tweeted. “Yoooo! Shoutout to the fans from the MMA Hour that listened and hooked me up! I appreciate the [beer emoji]’s! Definitely gonna enjoy this week!”
Sterling’s next title challenger was immediately presented to him after defeating Cejudo. In attendance that night, No. 2-ranked divisional contender, Sean O’Malley, entered the Octagon to confront Sterling as the two exchanged words. No specific timetable has been indicated for the bout, but O’Malley has been expected to get the winner since his UFC 280 split decision nod over Petr Yan in Oct. 2022 (watch highlights).
For complete UFC 288 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.