"He should be more of a man" - Marlon Vera wants Aljamain Sterling to 'stop thinking that he's the champ'

Marlon Vera (left) and Aljamain Sterling (right) [Rigt image courtesy: @funkmastermma on Instagram]

Marlon Vera doesn't believe Aljamain Sterling should be recognized as the undisputed UFC bantamweight champion.

The No.13-ranked 135-pounder is among the majority who think Sterling is a 'paper champion' for the way his coronation came. He believes the proper thing to do is for Sterling to relinquish the title and stop acting like the champion. Speaking with Sportskeed MMA's Andrew Whitelaw, Marlon Vera said:

"Sterling is a good athlete. He's a good wrestler. But you go and watch his fights, the fights he lost – it was because he couldn't figure it out and then he just gives up or he gets KO'd. You cannot stop [getting] KO'd but it's also your fault. You don't get caught, you don't get knocked the f*** out. So that getting caught thing, it's either you're there or you're not there. I don't like the guy. I personally don't like him. He has the belt but he should be more of a man and be like, 'I got to give [the title away].' Because he's not [the champion]. It was an illegal knee, we all know that, but he was losing the fight."

This isn't the first time Vera has taken a shot at Sterling. The Ecuadorian pushed for the UFC to strip 'Funk Master' of the belt shortly after the announcement of Sterling's withdrawal from UFC 267.

Strip the man

For now, the UFC bantamweight title picture is in limbo as Aljamain Sterling recovers from neck surgery. In his absence, former champ Petr Yan captured the interim title in the co-main event of last Saturday's UFC 267 event.

Meanwhile, 'Chito' Vera will attempt to climb further up the rankings as he squares off against former lightweight titleholder Frankie Edgar. It will be his second appearance of the year after successfully defeating Davey Grant via unanimous decision at UFC Fight Night: The Korean Zombie vs. Ige.

Check out our exclusive interview with Marlon Vera below:

Twitter beef: Marlon Vera vs. Aljamain Sterling

Aljamain Sterling and Marlon Vera have been at odds for the past several months. 'Chito' took exception to Sterling's comments about his "flukish" win against Sean O'Malley. Vera called Sterling out on Twitter, saying:

"(Aljamain Sterling) shut the fuck up P*ssy fluke-ish is the weak way to won the belt u crotch sniffer"

@funkmasterMMA shut the fuck up Pussy fluke-ish is the weak way to won the belt u crotch sniffer twitter.com/LowKick_MMA/st…

Sterling has since claimed that he was misquoted in the interview, but it appears that he won't be on good terms with Vera anytime soon.