Aljamain Sterling says there will be no fight with Dillashaw unless he is paid more
Aljamain Sterling is setting the record straight on his rumored next title bout against TJ Dillashaw.
Earlier this week reports that the next bantamweight title fight was set. Aljamain Sterling was going to defend his title for the second time against TJ Dillashaw in September, but before this story could even get legs, the champ set the record straight. Although he has no problem facing off against the former champion Dillashaw, Sterling’s contract needs to be upped. Sterling explained how he is waiting for a raise from his last fight before he puts ink to paper. The champ took to his YouTube channel to explain.
“One thing I want to disclose was that there is no fight until there’s ink on paper and as of right now, my contract is exactly the same,” he explained. “Usually, when it’s not a title fight when you win a fight, there’s an escalator. There has been no escalator in this fight. I like to think that I played my part, did the right things, and even allow myself to be the bad guy in the last outing with Petr Yan, and helped play up the storyline. So one would think that being a company man will actually help you in the long run. So I did my job.”
Sterling is coming off his first title defense against Petr Yan back in April. This was the second fight in a row against Yan, but now that he has defense Sterling believes he is owed more money from the UFC. He is not against Dillashaw as the next opponent although there have been other names mentioned such as Henry Cejudo if he were to return to the UFC, or Jose Aldo, who is now set to face Merab Dvalishvili.
“So, for me, I want to make sure we get the deal right before we just jump into another fight,” he explained. “Because at the end of the day, I climb through the ranks, I worked my a– off and I play my position in terms of helping to promote the fights, which a lot of these guys don’t even do. I’m here to be a company man. At the same time, I want to look out for my best interests. And there’s a fine line where there’s a balance we’re getting both of those done, can happen. And hopefully, we can sit down and figure this out. And I guess figure out where the location is going to be because I have no idea where it’s going to be. It seems like TJ is the guy.”
Dillashaw is the former champion who lost his belt after he failed a drug test and was suspended for two years. He has returned after his suspension and he is back in the win column and ready to regain his title against Sterling.
