Aljamain Sterling Suggests Fight With TJ Dillashaw Is Not a Done Deal; Reveals His Fight Purse for His Fight Against Petr Yan

Posted on by Jim Smarts

UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling defended his belt for the first time earlier this year against arch-rival Petr Yan with an impressive display of grappling and wrestling prowess. For the better part of a year, Sterling was on the receiving end of endless trolling from fans as they did not recognize him as the legitimate champion. 

A few days back, reports suggested that Sterling’s next title defense was close to being a done deal. TJ Dillashaw for UFC 279 in September is what the reports suggested was next for ‘Funkmaster’. However, in a recent video on his channel, Sterling further light onto the truth behind his next fight. 

Read More:- Aljamain Sterling Gets His Wish; Set to Face TJ Dillashaw Next in September at UFC 279

Aljamain Sterling breaks his silence over recent reports of a title fight

He said, “There’s no fight until there’s ink on paper, and as of right now, my contract is exactly the same. “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’d like to think that I played my part, did the right things and even allowed myself to be the bad guy in the last outing with Petr Yan, and help play up the storyline.”

‘Funkmaster’ continued, “As of right now, I’m training, hoping that we come to some type of agreement to give some type of pay bump – which naturally happens in all the contracts. For me, I want to make sure we get the deal right before we just jump into another fight. Because at the end of the day, I climbed through the ranks, I worked my ass off, and I played 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, and at the same time, I want to look out for my best interests. There’s a fine line where there’s a balance where getting both of those done can happen.”

In the video, Sterling also mentioned that he was paid $400,000 for his title defense against Petr Yan. This figure does not include the PPV bonuses that get added onto his purse. Needless to say, that is an extremely small amount for a champion in the UFC.