Former UFC champion reacts to | MMA News
UFC CEO Dana White used the Thanksgiving Day CBS broadcast of the Dallas Cowboys vs. Kansas City Chiefs NFL sport to announce a number of high-profile fights that’ll kick off the battle promotion’s new yr under the media rights settlement with Paramount.
The first UFC event under the new partnership, UFC 324: Gaethje vs. Pimblett, takes place on Jan. 24 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The battle card is headlined by an interim light-weight title bout between former interim titleholder and No. 4 ranked contender Justin Gaethje and No. 5 ranked Paddy Pimblett.
Nearly as soon as the interim title bout was announced it started receiving criticism. Former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling was one who voiced his disapproval of the matchup.
“We have a little bit of a debacle happening for these title shots. Dana announced some big fights, some big fights that were very, very confusing. Fun fights nonetheless, but very, very confusing,” Sterling said on his YouTube channel.
“Let’s start with the obvious. The No. 1 (lightweight) contender, Arman Tsarukyan, he was supposed to fight Islam Makhachev. Got hurt, and understandably pulled out and had some repercussions from the UFC brass, which I understand. But the guy made up for it.
“He weighed in as a backup fighter, which sucks. Yeah, they pay you, but it sucks. You have to weight, not even figuring out if you are going to really battle,” continued Sterling. “He did that, backup fighter, did not get the call, but might wait and show the UFC he is a company man, he is going to do what he can to maker issues proper. Then he goes on and he fights again, defends his No. 1 spot, beats Dan Hooker and will get a end.”
Related: Ilia Topuria taking extended break, interim title created
We don’t definitively know what took place behind the scenes, but Sterling doesn’t believe Tsarukyan would have turned down an interim title fight against either Gaethje or Pimblett. It appears the top contender was passed over.
“I’m sure if he (Tsarukyan) had the chance to battle for the interim title between Paddy Pimblett or Justin Gaethje, he would have executed it unless we’re all utterly mistaken and he said, ‘No. I only need to battle for the title or that’s it, and that’s against Ilia,'” said Sterling.
“I believe Arman would have taken the battle. That’s just what I’d suppose. It’s not too unhealthy of a turnaround. And on top of that, he just received. Got a end. Didn’t take a lot of injury. I do not know how exhausting the training camp was, but did not take a lot of injury. It just sucks to see that,” added the former champion.
After the interim title bout was announced, Tsarukyan had a four-word response. “Make it make sense,” he wrote on X.
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