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Aljamain Sterling has claimed the UFC was looking for ways to snub him and possibly deny him an opportunity to fight for the bantamweight title after Henry Cejudo vacated the belt.
In a recently uploaded video on his YouTube channel, Aljamain Sterling stated that people forgot he and Cory Sandhagen were technically the top fighters in the bantamweight division when they squared-off.
However, Petr Yan went on to fight Jose Aldo for the title instead, who was coming off a loss to Marlon Moraes.
Yan defeated the former featherweight champion for the vacant UFC bantamweight title and Sterling pointed out how both Yan and Aldo were ranked lower than him and Sandhagen.
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It is safe to say that Aljamain Sterling didn't appreciate how the entire situation played out, as it made no sense to him. Sterling said:
"I think people do forget that Cory Sandhagen and myself when we fought for the #1 contender spot, we were technically the highest ranked guys where Petr Yan fought a guy who is coming off of a loss and they were both ranked a lot lower than the two of us and they got to fight for our vacant title. Makes no sense."
The reigning UFC bantamweight champion added that in his mind, he always thought it was him who fought for the belt when he faced Sandhagen in 2020.
Aljamain Sterling believes the UFC should've booked him and Cory Sandhagen in a title fight but the promotion was looking for ways to snub Sterling out of the title picture. He added:
"So, in my mind, I actually fought for the belt, which was what the UFC should've done but they were trying to find any way to just snub me."
Watch Aljamain Sterling's video below:
Aljamain Sterling is expected to fight Petr Yan in a rematch
At UFC 259, Aljamain Sterling won the undisputed UFC bantamweight championship by beating Petr Yan in a very controversial manner. An illegal knee from Yan led to the crowning of a new champion as Sterling won the fight via disqualification.
Fast-forward to UFC 267, Petr Yan was set for a rematch against 'Funkmaster' but Sterling was forced to withdraw from the fight.
Instead, 'No Mercy' went on to fight Cory Sandhagen for the vacant title and after a five-round war, Yan was crowned the interim UFC bantamweight champion.
