Aljamain Sterling 'not at his best' despite retaining UFC bantamweight title says Chael Sonnen
Chael Sonnen is extremely impressed with Aljamain Sterling's performance at UFC 273 against Petr Yan.
Sterling earned a close split decision win to defend his bantamweight title in Jacksonville, Florida. There was more than a little controversy over the result, with Dana White declaring he felt like the judges 'blew that one.'
youtu.be/O7Tv9Udvo4QDana White says "the judges blew" the Sterling-Yan rematch and he "had it 3-to-2 the other way."
Full #UFC273 post-fight scrum ▶️ youtu.be/O7Tv9Udvo4Q https://t.co/AVjkT5CPr4
From Chael Sonnen's perspective, Aljamain Sterling clinched the first three rounds of the fight and then coasted to his well deserved win. In a new video posted on his YouTube account, Sonnen said:
"I don't think he was at his best. I watched him give two rounds away. Watched him. Champion of the world gave two rounds away. How damn good is this guy? What could he have done if he'd wanted? He's getting takedowns. Aljo on the back of Petr Yan is the finest work we've ever seen in that position in the history of MMA."
According to Sonnen, Sterling's hardest work is done now that he holds two wins over Petr Yan. He said:
"That's his hardest fight in the rear-view, as long as he approaches them the same. Where in the hell is T.J. Dillashaw, right? There's going to be some lifting left to do. Dominick Cruz matches up very interesting. Is Henry Cejudo coming back? There's all sorts of things for Aljo to do. I'm not certain anything's going to be harder than what he just did. And I'm not certain he was at his best. I'm really not. You'd have a hard time convincing me that Sterling was at his best when we all agree he gave two rounds away of a five round fight. If he wanted to win all five, could he have won all five? It's kind of what it looked like, yeah."
Watch the full video from Chael Sonnen discussing Aljamain Sterling's UFC 273 win below:
Aljamain Sterling is asking haters to fill out an 'apology form' after his UFC 273 win
Aljamain Sterling got a lot of hate from fans over social media after he won the bantamweight title off a disqualification in March 2021. For over a year, people would flood his Twitter comments with clown emojis, declaring Petr Yan was the true champion.
Sterling went into his rematch with Yan at UFC 273 a heavy underdog, but still managed to win. Now he's having some fun with all the haters who have harassed him for over twelve months, demanding they fill out an apology form:
I’m going to need y’all to fill this out and hand it in to me by the end of the work day 🤡
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#UFC273 #AndStill #TheWeeklyScraps https://t.co/DalnSPF88Q
With many MMA fans still angrily tweeting at Sterling about the latest Yan fight, it doesn't seem like the hate will be ending any time soon. In this case it looks like Aljamain Sterling has decided to troll them right back.