Aljamain Sterling reacts to being the only UFC 300 winner to not get an Octagon interview: ‘It definitely sucked!’
Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has weighed in on the decision to make him the only UFC 300 winner to not have an interview with Joe Rogan.
Sterling earned a unanimous decision win in his UFC featherweight debut against Calvin Kattar during the UFC 300 prelims. He utilized his wrestling and timely striking to stifle Kattar over all three rounds.
After getting his hand raised in the center of the Octagon, Sterling was expected to have an interview with Rogan to talk about his performance. But, he ended up being the only UFC 300 fighter not to have a post-fight Octagon interview as the promotion neared the start of the pay-per-view portion of the card.
Sterling, who bounced back after a loss to Sean O’Malley at UFC 292, wishes it wasn’t the odd man out.
Aljamain Sterling ‘sad’ being passed up for UFC 300 cage interview
In a recent appearance on The MMA Hour, Sterling reacted to not having a moment on the mic at UFC 300.
“I don’t want to say I was upset, but when I thought about it, it definitely sucked a little bit!” Sterling said. “Former champion, defended the belt three times, no interview, it’s kinda sad…
“Kayla [Harrison] got a finish, so I would’ve thought they had enough time…but maybe it was a timing thing.”
As of this writing, the UFC hasn’t addressed why Sterling wasn’t given a post-fight interview at UFC 300. Although, it was likely due to time constraints.
Despite being spurned of a post-fight promo moment, Sterling is in the mix in the featherweight title picture. He called out Brian Ortega after defeating Kattar, which would be an intriguing matchup between two elite grapplers.
After the loss to O’Malley, Sterling passed up on waiting for a potential rematch in favor of a featherweight move. He could potentially be one or two wins away from a featherweight title shot.
Sterling feels right at home at featherweight, but he wishes he would’ve gotten more post-fight shine at UFC 300. He has the opportunity to continue to silence his detractors in his next fight later this year.
