"What the heck are the odds of that?" - Aljamain Sterling sides with fan's take on why Jason Herzog is a better UFC referee than Marc Goddard
Aljamain Sterling has sided with an MMA fan in regards to ranking octagon referee Jason Herzog above Marc Goddard.
Goddard was on hand for UFC 295's main event that saw Alex Pereira defeat Jiri Prochazka via second-round TKO. The Brazilian landed his trademark left hook to drop the Czech fighter to his knees, before unleashing a flurry of elbows that saw Goddard jump in and wave the fight over.
At the time there was a call by those on the commentary desk and fans at home that the stoppage was early, however Prochazka admitted in his post-fight speech that there was no issue with Marc Goddard's call.
Following the main event, X (formerly Twitter) user @skinnytoldem stated that a common factor in some of the biggest controversial stoppages over the last few years have all featured Goddard as the ref. They wrote:
"I don’t think the main event of #UFC295 was a early stoppage but it’s funny every controversial stoppage whether it be Izzy/Alex 2, Colby/Usman 1, Sterling/O’Malley, Glover/Hill not getting stopped or yesterday the common denominator is Marc Goddard, the best ref is Jason Herzog"
Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling then responded to the post where he admitted that he agreed with the assessment that Jason Herzog is the 'best'. Marc Goddard was also on hand during Sterling's TKO loss to Sean O'Malley, which 'Aljo' has regularly stated he believes was stopped early.
Sterling wrote:
"Respectfully to Jiri, and the refs, but I agree with ya. What the heck are the odds of that? Odd."
Catch the tweets here:
Aljamain Sterling offers Sean O'Malley vs. Marlon 'Chito' Vera prediction
Aljamain Sterling believes an upset could once again be on the cards, after stating that he expects 'Chito' Vera to pick up a second win against O'Malley.
Vera currently holds the only victory over 'Sugar', defeating him at UFC 252. O'Malley suffered a compromised leg during the fight, leading to him collapsing to the floor and Vera smothering him with his ground and pound before the fight was waved over.
In recent weeks, it has been officially confirmed that Sean O'Malley will make his first 135lb title defense in a rematch against 'Chito' Vera at UFC 299.
Speaking about the fight on his YouTube channel, Aljamain Sterling firmly stated his belief that Vera will win once again. He explained:
"Chito can actually beat Sean O'Malley. And I know people are saying this is an easy win but this is how deep the division is. I'm saying right now, I'm predicting an upset. I'm predicting an upset that Chito beats Sean, again."
Catch Sterling's comments here (10:20):