Aljamain Sterling may have gotten away with it again, according to Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White.
On Saturday, Sterling won a split decision against competitor Petr Yan in their rematch at UFC 273. He unified his undisputed bantamweight title with Yan’s interim belt after five competitive rounds. The victory gave Sterling a 2-0 lead in the series, with “Funk Master” becoming champion at UFC 259 in March of last year after Yan got disqualified for illegally kneeing a downed Sterling.
There was minor controversy during their second fight, but plenty of second-guessing about the scoring from fans, the media, and UFC President Dana White afterwards. White claimed emphatically during the evening’s post-fight press conference that he disagreed with the judges’ judgment.
“I thought that the judges blew that one.” White said. “I had it 3-2 the other way. I don’t know how you guys scored it, I guess it’s all in how you score that first round.”
Yan Disappointed with judges score on fight with Sterling
Round 1 was the decider, according to the official scorecards. Judges Sal D’Amato and Eliseo Rodriguez scored Sterling 10-9 and judge Chris Lee scored Yan 10-9. Despite Sterling being in back control for practically the entire second round and threatening with submissions and strikes, no 10-8s were awarded for either round.
Yan then demanded a rematch with Sterling during his post-fight press conference. He enters Saturday as the interim champion after defeating Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 to claim the vacant bantamweight title.
Yan will almost certainly have to wait for a third chance against Sterling, given the depth of the 135-pound roster. T.J. Dillashaw, a two-time champion, was in attendance at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and declared earlier in the evening that he would prefer a title bout with Yan.
White would want to see the Sterling-Yan trilogy placed on hold for the time being, with Dillashaw on the horizon.
“Listen, that [third Sterling-Yan] fight’s gonna be there,” White said. “Petr Yan is one of the baddest dudes in that division. You probably do the T.J. fight.”
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