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Aljamain Sterling has made it clear that he wants former champion T.J. Dillashaw as his next opponent, and he's already building up a feud by focusing on Dillashaw's failed drug test from 2019.
In a new interview with ESPN, Sterling said:
"T.J. is probably the fight that I would be more enticed by, in the sense of what he's accomplished in the bantamweight division. So for me, I think that's the fight that I want. People want to see that fight. I mean, his performances haven't looked too great as of late, so I kind of want to ask him what it's like to be on the sauce and coming off of it, you know?"
When asked by Daniel Cormier if he felt like Dillashaw was ever on PEDs, Sterling replied:
"Ever. I mean, I think before his John Dodson fight he was kind of regular and then he turned a corner really really quick. And I don't know, man. His teammates outed him. When he fought Cody Garbrandt and he said 'You showed the team how to do it,' and the media washed it under the rug. And it's there for anyone to listen to it. So to try and tell me this is the only time he ever done it? Your teammate just threw you under the bus, bro. So you can't tell me anything that that guy has competed clean. His entire legacy to me is tainted. But I'll happily step in there with him, like I have with countless other people. And still see who the better man is because I think that's a mentally weak person and I want to go out there and show what hard work can really do."
Watch the full ESPN interview with Aljamain Sterling below:
Shortly after Aljamain Sterling defeated Petr Yan in a somewhat controversial split decision, UFC president Dana White shot down the idea of an immediate rematch, instead saying they'd 'probably' do Sterling vs. Dillashaw next.
Aljamain Sterling still believes he should have earned 10-8 in few rounds against Petr Yan
While most debates surrounding Sterling vs. Yan 2 come down to how round one was judged, Aljamain Sterling insists he should have earned a 10-8 score for at least round two if not round three as well.
Sterling shared the Unified Rules of MMA scoring criteria on Twitter, saying it supported his claims.
As the length of the rule concerning 10-8 scoring suggests, it's not a cut and dry subject with easy answers. Judges are granted a lot of leeway when it comes to using 10-8 scores, and when in doubt they almost always use 10-9 scores instead.
