UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling says health is his primary focus following a championship win over Petr Yan last weekend in Las Vegas — but an immediate rematch against Yan is also on the horizon.
“I was doped up on morphine in the hospital, and texted [UFC president Dana White] and said, ‘I want to run back the rematch ASAP!” Sterling told ESPN on Tuesday. “I wasn’t in the right frame of mind, clearly. I ended up throwing up later in the night. [But] for me, this is just a belt of unsettled business. Eventually, we’ll get to take care of it.”
Sterling (20-3) won the 135-pound title at UFC 259, when Yan (15-2) was disqualified for throwing an illegal knee in the fourth round. The knee rocked Sterling while he was technically in a “grounded” position on the canvas, and he was unable to continue the fight.
At the UFC 259 postfight news conference, White said he would book a rematch due to the rare nature of the result.
Sterling turned heads this weekend when he posted a picture of himself and former champion Henry Cejudo on social media, but made it clear to ESPN a rematch is next. He said he just doesn’t know when, noting the potentially unpredictable long-term effects of a concussion.
“As much as I want to rerun this rematch ASAP, I need to do what’s right for me,” Sterling said. “Make sure I’m being smart about it, taking UFC’s advice, doctors’ advice. When I feel good and ready to go, the rematch will happen and we’ll settle this.”
At the time the fight was waved off, Yan was ahead on two of the judges’ scorecards, 29-28. Sterling held a 29-28 lead on the third scorecard. It appeared Yan was also comfortably on his way to winning the fourth, which Sterling admitted himself to ESPN.
Still, Sterling said he was still capable of winning the title prior to the illegal knee, and did not even immediately realize the result could be a disqualification. It marked the first time in UFC history a belt changed hands due to disqualification.
“I was thinking, ‘I worked so hard to get this title shot, and now this is going to be a no-contest. And because the fourth round was going his way, Dana White is going to skip over me and give the title shot to someone else,'” Sterling said. “That broke me inside. That’s what made me shed a few tears. I was so distraught.
“I wanted to drag it out, let as long as I possibly needed. Was that the right decision, the right way of thinking, to proceed? Probably not. But in my head, I’m thinking, ‘I’m not going to get this opportunity again.’ I won one round, potentially two. I knew I needed a big fifth round in order to win that fight. I was willing to try and push through.”
When asked if he even wants to be referred to as “champion” between now and the rematch, Sterling laughed.
“Everyone’s been calling me ‘champ,’ even in the streets,” Sterling said. “I don’t even know how to take it. I can’t really [celebrate] it. I leave it up to the person. I am the champ, but I don’t feel like the champ.”