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Aljamain Sterling may not have convinced everyone in the MMA community that he deserves to be the undisputed UFC bantamweight champion, but he has the support of Joe Rogan.
On the latest episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan praised Sterling's performance in his second fight against Petr Yan. The two fought to a split decision at UFC 273, with 'Aljo' earning the nod from two of the three judges. While some analysts have questioned whether Sterling did enough in the first and second round, Rogan shared his own judging opinion:
"It's a great fight. It's a very good fight ... That was a weird split decision. It was a very good fight, but you definitely won the fight. I watched it again today, actually."
Sterling's win over Petr Yan at UFC 273 was extra impressive given how dominant Yan looked in their first fight. Unfortunately for Yan, he threw an illegal knee to a grounded Sterling's head, losing via disqualification.
A big part of Aljamain Sterling's improvement had to do with him finally getting neck surgery for an injury he'd suffered from since being dropped on his head in college wrestling. According to 'Aljo,' the injury was worsened by the illegal knee and his arm started atrophying.
Sterling said the UFC pressured him to accept a rematch with Yan just two months after their first fight.
"From the first fight, March 6, 2021, that night we went to the hospital and I texted Dana White and told him I want to have the rematch and get this done and settled the right way. As soon as we can, kind of thing. They were offering me the fight like two months, what was it, March, April, May. And I was like dude, if I was suspended, if that was a legal shot, I would have been [medically] suspended. There's no way I can fight in May. If it was a legal fight ending sequence I wouldn't even be cleared to compete."
Instead, Aljamain Sterling opted to get neck surgery, where doctors inserted an articulating disc into his spine. While it took eleven months for a second fight to finally take place, Sterling returned in amazing shape and looking better than ever.
Watch Aljamain Sterling on The Joe Rogan Experience below:
Aljamain Sterling is hoping to return to action in the fall on the Jones vs. Miocic pay-per-view
While a potential Jon Jones vs. Stipe Miocic fight remains unsigned at the moment, Aljamain Sterling is hoping that it will come together soon so he can compete on the undercard. In a recent YouTube video, Sterling said:
"I'm thinking about a September return to the octagon ... I'm really interested to see who's on the card with me because I'm here to make money. And obviously I'm here to whoop a** but I'm here to make money as well as whoop a** ... I know Jon [Jones] wants to make a return, I know Stipe and him were in the works. I don't know when they wanted to fight though."
Watch Aljamain Sterling discuss his next fight below:
