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John McCarthy has fired back at Aljamain Sterling after being criticized by the UFC bantamweight champion. Sterling is coming off a split decision win over arch-rival Petr Yan in their rematch that took place at UFC 273 on April 9.
Their first fight transpired at UFC 259 in March 2021. It ended controversially, as Sterling won via DQ (Disqualification) after being incapacitated by an illegal knee strike thrown by Yan. Following the first fight, McCarthy suggested that Sterling feigned being hurt by the knee and deceitfully notched a DQ victory to capture the bantamweight title.
Furthermore, after the rematch, McCarthy opined that Sterling shouldn’t have been awarded round one (the round that was awarded to him by two of the three judges) and played a significant role in him winning via split decision. Needless to say, Sterling subsequently sounded off against McCarthy.
Appearing on the Unlocking the Cage with Jimmy Smith podcast, McCarthy has now addressed Sterling’s outburst. McCarthy briefly went over their long-running disagreements dating back to the first Sterling-Yan matchup. He indicated that in the rematch, Sterling fought to the best of his abilities but Yan didn’t. Additionally, McCarthy stated:
“He threw more, probably landed more. But every time that Yan was hitting him, Aljamain was moving back. He was going backwards. Every time that Aljamain was hitting Yan, Yan was walking forward still. And it’s just my opinion. It’s his opinion, and he can have his, and I can have mine, and he cannot like me, and it’s not gonna change my life. I really don’t care."
"So, fighters always – and you know this – when you say good things about them, they like you. If you don’t agree with what they did or you go against them and say you thought somebody else won, you’re the worst. So, I’m the worst.”
Listen to John McCarthy’s statements regarding Aljamain Sterling’s criticism in the tweet below:
Daniel Cormier on why Aljamain Sterling would’ve retained his title even if Petr Yan won round one
On ESPN MMA’s DC & RC Show, Daniel Cormier explained that since Sterling entered the fight as the UFC bantamweight champion and Yan as the interim UFC bantamweight champion, ’Funk Master' would've walked away with the bantamweight title even if the fight had been scored a draw.
The legendary Cormier condemned the lack of consistency in MMA judging and added that the second round should’ve been a 10-8 in favor of Aljamain Sterling. DC said:
"So, if you're arguing that round one goes to [Petr Yan] we got a draw. ‘Aljo’ still keeps the title, right? Nothing changes. We're back at square one."
