“Break me off a piece” - Aljamain Sterling accuses review officials of corruption after Marc Diakiese's controversial UFC London defeat
In a heated post-fight reaction, UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling didn't hold back as he accused officials of corruption following Marc Diakiese's controversial defeat at UFC London.
The fight between Joel Alvarez and Marc Diakiese started with an intense first round on the feet, with both fighters trading blows. As Round 2 began, the action shifted to the mat, and that's when the controversial moment occurred.
A clash of heads left Diakiese visibly hurt, and Alvarez took advantage, securing a D'Arce choke with less than a minute left in the round. The referee stopped the fight at the 4:26 mark of Round 2, awarding Alvarez the victory.
However, not everyone was satisfied with the outcome. UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling took to his official Twitter handle to express his frustration and accuse the review officials of corruption in the decision-making process.
Sterling's tweet raised eyebrows as he questioned the integrity of the officials, insinuating that they may have deliberately ignored certain aspects of the fight to favor a particular outcome:
"It's almost like they group up and say, 'let's ignore it and pretend we had a chat.' Or 'who'd you bet on?? Ok so let's leave it like this thing and break me off a piece.' It's disgusting."
It’s almost like they group up and say, “let’s ignore it and pretend we had a chat”. Or “who’d you bet on?? Ok so let’s leave it like this thing and break me off a piece.”
It’s disgusting. twitter.com/dannyrube/stat…
The champion continued his rant, stressing the lack of consistency in the sport. He argued that decisions like this call for accountability and a clear baseline for future comparisons. To him, the human element of "guessing" should be minimized, and concrete rules and guidelines must be established:
"If they don’t change that to a NC, that’s just foul and proves again that there is NO CONSISTENCY in our sport. We need to show an example for certain situations, fouls, etc, so we at least have a baseline on what we’re comparing things too. Remove more of the human 'guessing'."
If they don’t change that to a NC, that’s just foul and proves again that there is NO CONSISTENCY in our sport. We need to show an example for certain situations, fouls, etc, so we at least have a baseline on what we’re comparing things too. Remove more of the human “guessing”. twitter.com/billyqmma/stat…
Aljamain Sterling praises Sean O'Malley ahead of UFC 292 clash
In the lead-up to their highly-anticipated showdown at UFC 292 in August, Aljamain Sterling had some words of praise for his opponent, Sean O'Malley.
Speaking on The Weekly Scraps Podcast, hosted by the bantamweight champion himself, Sterling was asked to name the most underrated opponent he has faced in his career.
With thoughtful consideration, Aljamain Sterling said:
"Honestly I'm stuck between two people, Pedro Munhoz and Sean O'Malley. Obviously I haven't fought Sean yet but I think a lot of people are riding him off and underestimating him. But I'm not doing that. I think a lot of people did that before the Petr Yan fight, but he showed that styles make fights and he showed that he's not just a clown guy with this colorful hair. He showed that he can scrap, that he's here to scrap and I appreciate that..."
Check out Aljamain Sterling's take on his upcoming opponent below:
As the anticipation builds for their upcoming bout, the mutual respect and appreciation between the two fighters are evident.
Both Sterling and O'Malley are prepared to give it their all in the Octagon, and fans can expect an exciting and competitive showdown when they finally face off at UFC 292.