This past Saturday, Aljamain Sterling silenced his haters by beating Petr Yan in the co-main event of UFC 273. Or at least, he should have. Though he was a heavy underdog in his rematch with Yan, Sterling came out looking substantially better than in their first fight, and managed to sweep the first three rounds on two judges’ scorecards, earning a split decision win. But despite the fact that Sterling did the thing he told everyone he was going to do, some have still criticized his performance, including UFC President Dana White, who said he believed Yan should have been awarded the decision. And though “The Funk Master” didn’t like hearing that, he wasn’t all that surprised either.

“Dana’s always going to be throwing dirt on my name, that’s just what he does,” Sterling told BJPenn.com. “I think he has Yan rated so highly, he’s such a dangerous guy, to have the grappler do that to him, he was really, really shocked. Especially after the first fight, because he probably thought I had no chance in hell of winning that fight either.”

“Sucks to be him right now in the sense of you really wrote me off after everything you have seen that I’ve done in this sport, in his organization, it’s a slap in the face but at the end of the day, it doesn’t bother me. I think it bothers him more, clearly because he doesn’t know how to judge a fight, which it shows. I think he maybe let his emotions get ahead of him and that’s probably it. He was probably really invested in Yan winning that fight and I threw a monkey wrench into their plans.”

White was not the only person who felt Yan should have won the fight. Yan himself immediately argued against the decision and former referee “Big” John McCarthy was also notably in favor of Yan as well, with Sterling responding specifically to “big stupid John”. Things are obviously slightly different with for Sterling with Dana White as White remains his promoter, and Sterling did not that he and White have a fine personal relationship, even if their business relationship can be strained at times.

“It’s happened in the past, more so the business aspect of things,” Sterling said. “When it comes to outside of the Octagon, whenever we have talked it is super cordial, I’m super polite, he’s super polite and he’s always nice to me. We have always had good conversations but when it comes to the fights he doesn’t really like grapplers like that, unless you are Khabib.”

But White may need to get used to liking Sterling. Now with two wins over Petr Yan, the bantamweight champion will likely be a favorite, regardless of who he fights next, and with a performance like he gave on Saturday, Sterling absolutely deserves to be.

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TOP STORIES

Funk Master. Aljamain Sterling happy with UFC 273 performance, rips John McCarthy: ‘That guy sucks’.

Aspirations. A.J. McKee wants $1 million per fight to stay with Bellator, calls becoming UFC champion ‘inevitable’.

Farewell. Marlon Moraes announces his retirement from mixed martial arts.

Response. PFL CEO Peter Murray responds to allegations of suspicious betting activity.

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VIDEO STEW

The MMA Hour.

Top post-fight celebrations.

Francis Nganou reacts to his character in UFC 4.

Trailer for Luque-Muhammad 2.

Casual Guide to Patricio Pitbull.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Victory lap keeps rolling.

Do it.

Dustin Poirier.

Cejudo and Bisping.

Aggressive.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

N/A.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Thanks for reading!

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EXIT POLL

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