Aljamaine Sterling almost cried backstage after fighting Calvin Katar
UFC 300 just pa*sed us by and what an event it is going to be. With some of the most interesting moments in war sports history taking place, the event will be one for the history books. However, it wasn’t equally enjoyable for everyone, as Alzamine Stirling can attest.
For those who don’t know, ‘The Funkmaster’ made his featherweight debut on the UFC 300 preliminary card. Fighting just before the featured prelims, Sterling was placed much higher on the card than some of his peers. Later that night, he faced the now #9 ranked featherweight, Calvin Cutter.
The 145ers go head to head in our next matchup 👊@Calvin Kattar vs @FunkMasterMMA
[ #UFC300 is LIVE now on @ESPN & @ESPNPlus ] pic.twitter.com/7EYHU2U45N
— UFC (@ufc) April 14, 2024
Despite his ranking, ‘The Boston Finisher’ has had some tough times lately. With back-to-back losses to Josh Emmett and Arnold Allen, things are only going to get worse for Qatar. On the night, Aljamin scored a shutout of Sterling Kattar, who managed just 8 significant strikes in three rounds. Despite the seemingly dominant victory, it wasn’t the best night at the office for Sterling.
Aljamaine Sterling reveals how he cried backstage after his fight with Calvin Cutter
On paper, the fight may look like Aljamaine Sterling stopping Calvin Kattar to completely stun him. However, what happened and what the fans saw was much different than that. Naturally, Sterling’s game plan was always going to be very wrestling-heavy, and on the night, it worked brilliantly.
However, considering what fans had seen of the fight before, they felt that Sterling’s performance was too boring. As such, they let their thoughts be known through constant babble during and after a fight. Most notably, and tellingly, the former bantamweight champ didn’t even get an Octagon interview. Understandably, all of these things weighed heavily on Sterling, who got emotional backstage.
“I realize it wasn’t the craziest ground and pound, but it takes two to tango. If he doesn’t try to leave the position so he doesn’t end up, what should I do? Max Holloway couldn’t put him away for crying out loud and we say that’s how the fight was.”
“I started tearing up a little bit from behind, and I’m like, ‘How am I going to beat a guy like Illya, a guy like Volk, if I’m going to perform like that?’
During the press conference, Aljamaine Sterling cut a very excited figure after announcing a $300,000 bonus. However, fans quickly clipped it and posted it after his fight, criticizing him for having the worst fight of the night. Thus, what might have seemed like a good performance on an ordinary occasion, felt like a terrible performance for Sterling at UFC 300.
Aljamaine Sterling responds to fan criticism after UFC 300 performance
For the most part, combined with the fan reception that he was the only winner at UFC 300 who didn’t get an Octagon interview, Aljamaine Sterling felt very disappointed with himself. Although his interview was probably cut due to time constraints, the vibes and the way things were going might have made him feel like a loser.
Fortunately, as Sterling revealed, Facebook and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s praise made him feel a lot better. Afterwards, the 34-year-old watched her performance and felt as if she was quite flawless. As such, he explained that he did the best with what he was given and put on an impressive performance.
“If I was there and I had a clear path to just pose and punch and I didn’t, I’d get the hell out of me. Get me out of the stadium, back to New York from Las Vegas. But there was no real chance of that.”
Feeling good in his new weight cla*s 😤@FunkMasterMMA leaf #UFC300 With a UD victory! pic.twitter.com/YsZG0JlfKj
— UFC (@ufc) April 14, 2024
“I got frustration from the fans because the fights were all very good, but Kattar did what I had to do to shut him down to keep him in the fight and I did what I had to do to dominate the fight. I think when you look at it that way, you have to cut me some slack.”
Thus, as suggested by Aljamaine Sterling, his opponent didn’t give him much else to do despite taking down 8 times in the three-round fight and being in control for over 10 minutes. As such she compared her performance to that of Kayla Harrison against Holly Holm, who she felt allowed the debutant to take her back and choke her.