5 controversial UFC post-fight interviews

#4. Conor McGregor at UFC 264

In the time since Conor McGregor’s shocking loss to Dustin Poirier at UFC 264, much criticism has been shot the Irishman’s way. Ever the trash talker, McGregor has made his verbal warfare more personal than ever in 2021.

After breaking his leg towards the end of round one, a clearly furious McGregor was interviewed by Joe Rogan. In the space of about two minutes, McGregor unleashed more profanities than the average Tarantino character and threw shots at Poirier and his wife, Jolie.

The rant had everyone talking and wondering what was next for McGregor after such a devastating setback. What really makes this post-fight interview questionable is that fact that it happened at all. Similar to Cormier at UFC 214, McGregor was clearly not in a good place here.

The agony of a severely broken limb would throw anyone off and could even lead to shock. When Anderson Silva suffered a similar injury at UFC 168, there was no immediate interview. The badly hurt former middleweight champion was stretchered out as quickly as possible and McGregor deserved the same.

Regardless of Joe Rogan’s claims that McGregor wanted the interview, someone in his state at the time arguably should not have been put under the spotlight.

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#3. Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259

Aljamain Sterling issued a statement after winning the UFC bantamweight title from Petr Yan via disqualification at #UFC259(via @funkmasterMMA) pic.twitter.com/O3bxjjBPZa

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 7, 2021

Controversy and crass jokes are going to cling to Aljamain Sterling like a bad smell until he finally defends his belt in October. At UFC 259, Sterling took a ferocious knee from Petr Yan while he was grounded.

As a result, Yan was disqualified and Sterling became the first fighter in UFC history to net a title via DQ. It was a shocking turn of events and one that was met by criticism and frustration from fans, fighters and pundits alike.

Many have even gone as far as to call into question the severity of Sterling’s injury following his post-fight celebrations. In a post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, an exhausted and emotional Sterling acknowledged the disappointing nature of his victory.

Rogan pointed out that two of the judges had Yan ahead of Sterling on the scorecards. Sterling claimed he was in too bad a shape following the knee to continue and that pursuing the fight further would’ve been unwise.

The result and subsequent interview have been a key figure of debate in the fighting world ever since.