Obviously. I'm saying that should have no baring on whether a champion is stripped or not and wouldn't in a real sport. The majority of UFC marks treat MMA like pro wrestling with real fights though so there'll be much less blowback when the UFC elects to use arbitrary criteria to create an interim belt or strip Aljo. In fact it's the most common sentiment in this thread.You can spin it however you like, but no one really sees Sterling as the champ. It would have been the same scenario if Anthony Smith took the DQ vs Jon Jones
Probably just base pay and normal bonuses.A ppv headlined by aljo - yan isn’t going to get him paid much.
Neck injuries are weird and take some time to get back from. Tons of athletes have retired due to them, so I am not surprised"Sterling, 31, said he should be ready to defend his title by October or early November."
- April 9th
https://www.espn.com/mma/story/_/id...eight-champion-aljamain-sterling-neck-surgery
He apparently had the issue for 10 years and decided to get the surgery right after being gifted the title. Said in April that he would be back by Oct or early Nov, but now it's going to take longer.
I think it's obvious that his decisions have been at least partially motivated by not wanting to re-match Yan. He wants Yan to fight and to lose or get injured.
I'm 80/20 it was you who called this in the PBP thread the night of the first match.
Holy shit Rob Font for the interim title next month. That is legitimately the only appropriate fight to book if he's ready. I do wish he got more time to prepare for Yan but in the UFC these guys have to take whatever opportunities they can on the way up.
If you noticed, Aljo was on Embedded at the Performance Institute on Wednesday, so this likely isn't some random surprise, he's at the UFC facilities.
Presumably he just needs more time to recuperate, the turnaround seemed to fast in the first place.
Damn, that sucks. This needs to be settled. Disagree with the calls to be stripped though unless this will be an extended absence, it hasn’t been that long, people just hate him and are responding emotionally. Guy fairly won the belt according to the rules whether people like it or not. But an interim title may very well might be warranted depending on how long we’re talking.