"It was apartheid I was referring to" - Aljamain Sterling clarifies to fans after confusion arises over wrong usage of word
Aljamain Sterling has cleared the air on recent comments he made while weighing in on Dricus du Plessis' remarks that stirred an emotional reaction out of Israel Adesanya.
The UFC middleweight champion ruffled feathers when he asked Adesanya whether he would be "taking the servants" with him during his potential victory lap in Africa. Sterling reacted to the comments and touched upon the history of South Africa, claiming that slavery was abolished 'roughly 30 years ago.'
Catch Sterling's comments below:
However, netizens were quick to pinpoint the discrepancy in Sterling's historic account. For a better understanding, slavery was officially abolished in South Africa in 1834 under British rule. That being said, legacy or racial and economic disparity continued to be a persistent challenge.
The former UFC bantamweight champion was referring to the 'Apartheid policy', that between 1948 and 1994, continued to be a chronic affliction of racial segregation in South Africa. The all-white government of the nation dictated legal and cultural segregation that saw non-white South Africans dwelling in hardships with discrimination like being forced to live in separate areas and use separate public facilities.
Sterling backtracked from his initial comment and clarified that he was referring to "apartheid" while reacting to the backlash by netizens on X. He wrote:
"I used the wrong word. It was apartheid I was referring too. I’m just getting back from training and was very confused by your comment. So I double-checked and saw I used the wrong word. In conversations with [people] from SA [South Africa], the words are used interchangeably so that’s the confusion."
Check out the X post below:
Aljamain Sterling believes Kai Kara-France's victory over Steve Erceg was an early stoppage
Kai Kara-France produced a statement-making effort in the co-main event of UFC 305, registering a TKO victory over former flyweight title challenger Steve Erceg.
The Kiwi received the Performance of the Night honors for the spectacular win which saw Erceg getting finished for the first time in his 15-fight professional career. While Kara-France cemented his case for a potential title shot, Aljamain Sterling pointed out that the fight was prematurely stopped.
Speaking about the finish his YouTube channel, he said:
"The stoppage was a little odd for me. Like yeah, he was hurt beforehand but then he’s starting to recover. My only gripe with the stoppage is you see the guy turn and you see him cover and then you see him trying to get up, he gets hit once, like let him eat a couple because it’s not like it’s catching him clean on the chin right?"
Check out the full reaction below (14:15):