Aljamain Sterling reacts to recent criticism from UFC President Dana White: “Don’t play with my name”

Aljamain Sterling is tired of the public criticism he has received from UFC President Dana White.

Sterling is the reigning UFC Bantamweight Champion, but some feel he hasn’t been given his due from the UFC brass. The “Funk Master” is coming off a highly competitive five-round fight with Henry Cejudo at UFC 288. The UFC has insisted that Sterling have a quick turnaround by champion standards to meet Sean O’Malley. The title fight is scheduled for August 19.

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Aljamain Sterling Goes Off

Initially, Sterling had reservations about fighting so soon given that he’s still banged up from the clash with “Triple C.” Ultimately, Sterling agreed to the fight. That didn’t stop White from telling media members that the bantamweight champion “can’t get out of his own way.”

Aljamain Sterling took to his “Weekly Scraps” podcast to vent about how Dana White addresses him when speaking to reporters (via MMAFighting).

“Why is it so hard for Dana to go… ‘absolutely the fight is done, we spoke to him, this kid’s always shown up to the fights, always makes weight, always does the media stuff, we know he’s going to show up. Yeah, he just fought two weeks ago, he’s a little banged up but he gave us his word he’s going to show up for this fight, the kid’s a killer, the kid’s a stud.’ The same way he does for Conor. If Conor does something, ‘Wow, isn’t he awesome?’ Can I be awesome too, Dana?”

Sterling went on to say that if he’s to keep doing business with the UFC, things should be handled the right way.

“I’m not asking for much. If you want me to give you the Carfax, I’ll give you the motherf****** Carfax,” Sterling said. “Don’t play with my name, bro. If we’re going to do this together, let’s get on the same page, and let’s do this s*** the right way. I said I’m fighting. What else do you want me to do? I’m f****** fighting. Just, f***, let’s figure this s*** out.”