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Aljamain Sterling's coach revealed that he did not put up 'Funk Master's picture on the wall at his gym in a bid to keep him motivated to return and beat Petr Yan.
Sterling unified the bantamweight title with a split decision victory over Yan in the co-headliner at UFC 273. It was a closely contested fight, with many claiming that the fight could have gone in Yan's favor or even scored a draw.
'Funk Master' had previously won the title via disqualification due to an intentional illegal knee by Yan in the fourth round at UFC 259. He became the first fighter in UFC history to win a championship via disqualification. Sterling was mocked by many critics and fans as not being the true champion of the division.
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On the Anik & Florian Podcast, Sterling's coach Ray Longo opened up on how the past 13 months have been for him:
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"Thirteen months of just getting tortured. And look nobody liked the way that last fight went down. I swear I didn't know what the rules were... whatever happened, happened. I put up a space between Matt Serra and Chris Weidman, probably about fourteen months ago and I would just make him stare at that space. That's where you going to be."
Watch Ray Longo's appearance on the Anik & Florian podcast below:
Aljamain Sterling asked haters to fill out an apology form after UFC 273 title defense
Aljamain Sterling made major adjustments to his approach against Petr Yan in the rematch at UFC 273 and did enough to get the judges' nod and score a huge upset to successfully defend his bantamweight title.
Since the rematch was a close match-up, followed by a win via disqualification, the toxicity from the fans towards Sterling seems unlikely to end. The champion, though, seems to be enjoying this latest victory.
'Funk Master' took to social media to offer up an apology form for critics to fill out.
"I’m going to need y’all to fill this out and hand it in to me by the end of the work day."
With the victory, Sterling has now officially won seven straight bouts and improved to 21-3 in his career. He called out T.J. Dillashaw after the contest and during the post-fight press conference.
