Aljo pulling out of his fight with Yan is one of the worst ducks of all time

[LetThemBleed]

1. Training in camp could have made the neck worse. You know, wrestling, BJJ or even S&C could put enough stress on the neck to make it worse.

2. Maybe he thought he would be ready but realized it's too soon. 6 months is actually very soon to fight after neck surgery.

Don't let hate blind you from logical thinking kid.



Why leave it at that? Either go all in or shut up lol. No half measures. 90% of you guys calls Aljo a coward but you're not even man enough to give me your thoughts

Think it's entirely dependent on when he say's he's ready to fight again, if he pipes up and says he's ready to fight in 2021 then it's one of the most blatant ducks in history. GDR level of ducking. If he's on the shelf until well into 2022 I'd tend to believe him, the issue with that scenario though is how long would or should the UFC be happy with him holding onto the belt whilst on the shelf. Aljo last fought in March, an interim title now makes a lot of sense. Give Aljo some additional time to recover and if he's not ready to go by say March next year which would mark a year's absence, strip him, upgrade the interim belt to the real belt and move on down the road.

 

[GrantB13]

If it's a real injury then things just happen sometimes but yours was the worst possible fight for him to have to pull out of

 

[Only Here for Attachments]

Yan called it

 

[r-harper-1]

Let Yan fight someone for the real belt and Give Aljo the interim lol

 

[LetThemBleed]

Yan called it

Does make it seem more suss doesn't it. Called it back in April too. Guy's a savage.

 

[Phisher]

You think after the way he won his title there would be more urgency to legitimise it, but I think he KNOWS he’s on borrowed time. Had nothing for Yan in their last fight

LOL This is the same stupidity that Nicco Montano got when people were accusing her of pulling out of fights to duck Shevchenko. And what do you know? Years later, she's still not fighting due to injury issues.

Sterling can't avoid Yan, and he doesn't get paid extra money just for being champ. The guy needs to fight to get paid. Even if the fight is a guaranteed loss, it's still more money than he'd make if he got stripped for not defending and went back to being a contender. The idea that he's trying to weasel out of a career high payday is asinine.

Sterling has been talking about his neck for years. He finally had an opportunity to get surgery after winning the belt.

 

[Eric Silva 2.0]

LOL This is the same stupidity that Nicco Montano got when people were accusing her of pulling out of fights to duck Shevchenko. And what do you know? Years later, she's still not fighting due to injury issues.

Sterling can't avoid Yan, and he doesn't get paid extra money just for being champ. The guy needs to fight to get paid. Even if the fight is a guaranteed loss, it's still more money than he'd make if he got stripped for not defending and went back to being a contender. The idea that he's trying to weasel out of a career high payday is asinine.

Sterling has been talking about his neck for years. He finally had an opportunity to get surgery after winning the belt.

Sterling said he didn't want to give Yan a rematch. He wanted Yan suspended and we have the 'Brando' acting job he did during the fight. He signed to fight Yan so i'm assuming he was healthy enough when he signed the contract. Is he faking an injury now? Probably not, I don't think so. It's not a good look for him though.

 

[LetThemBleed]

LOL This is the same stupidity that Nicco Montano got when people were accusing her of pulling out of fights to duck Shevchenko. And what do you know? Years later, she's still not fighting due to injury issues.

Sterling can't avoid Yan, and he doesn't get paid extra money just for being champ. The guy needs to fight to get paid. Even if the fight is a guaranteed loss, it's still more money than he'd make if he got stripped for not defending and went back to being a contender. The idea that he's trying to weasel out of a career high payday is asinine.

Sterling has been talking about his neck for years. He finally had an opportunity to get surgery after winning the belt.

Some bad luck with injuries sure but on the flip side not sure you can call weight cutting indiscipline an injury. That's pure and simple on her. She missed her last fight weight by 7 pounds and then was released. If she couldn't make the weight she had the opportunity to move up. She choose to attempt to fight at that weight. Suffice to say she'll not be missed in the slightest.

 

[Phisher]

Sterling said he didn't want to give Yan a rematch. He wanted Yan suspended and we have the 'Brando' acting job he did during the fight.

Fighters say a lot of stupid shit all the time. Sterling got salty about what Yan was saying after the fight.

The facts are the facts. The UFC isn't going to let Sterling avoid Yan, and Sterling will not make any more money for an individual fight than he will as a champ in the rematch.

He signed to fight Yan so i'm assuming he was healthy enough when he signed the contract.

Maybe he reaggravated the injury. Maybe he thought that his recovery would proceed at a different pace.

If you think that fighters only sign contracts when they're healthy, then you have no fucking idea how the UFC operates as a promotion.

Is he faking an injury now? Probably not, I don't think so. It's not a good look for him though.

How can this get any worse for him? The entire fanbase has been calling him a total fraud for months.

 

[Doughie99]

Honestly if his neck is that bad, he should relinquish his belt and let the division move on. Like that’ll put a little respek on his name while he recovers and comes back to an immediate title shot.

I think UFC should do an interim belt UNLESS Sterling commits to a fight in the next 6months. If he is still suffering issues, then fair enough, but I think these days the UFC tolerance for that is very limited.

Look at what happened with the Ngannou situation...

It would not surprise me if the Yan vs Sandhagen fight in October is made the Interim BW Championship fight. It's just a way of pressuring Sterling to come back or relinquish.

 

[Tito Tapped]

Obviously Yan is going to win the interim belt and then he'll have a ladder match with Sterling to see who the real champion is.

 

[sdpdude9]

Lots of hate clouding judgment in this thread. I swear logic has gone completely out the window when it comes to Sterling. Ya’ll acting like he’s been avoiding this for years. It’s been six months, absolutely not even close to unheard of in this sport or amongst champions. They will fight. Sterling doesn’t get paid to not fight, he has nothing to gain sitting on the sidelines. Merely holding onto the belt, of which the majority of fans call him fake champ, does nothing for him. Especially when he could be stripped and lose out on his biggest payday ever as champion. This line of reasoning makes no sense.

 

[moreorless87]

Sterling can't avoid Yan, and he doesn't get paid extra money just for being champ.

I'd guess there is potential to get more endorsement money as a UFC champ, whether thats actually the case here though who knows.

 

[countswagula]

Most blatant duck in MMA history is GDR throwing her newly won championship aside and fleeing the division rather than defend against Cris Cyborg.

One of the many reasons Nunes is the WMMA GOAT; she faced the boogeywoman and knocked her the fuck out when her peers and fellow champs were either terrified to face Cyborg (Ronda, GDR) or had tried and soundly failed (Holm).

At least GDR stepped up and vacated her belt, Aljo seems to be going the Nico Montano route

 

[storeybuckle]

So what you are saying is, even though he had neck surgery, Aljo is faking the lingering issues with the neck as it's recovering?

Faking seems to be a pattern with the “champ”

 

[Hitdepruns]

There is no way he is making money out of extra endorsments, his image is a liability.

 

[storeybuckle]

Oh shit im happy it didn't get worse bud. Necks are tricky and one must be careful. I always thought Aljo fighting 6 months after his neck surgery was a bit too early.

Plus that knee Yan gave him. I’m surprised he could get off the canvas and accept the belt. Just look at the pain he’s in (sarcasm)

 

[DatSamboKid]

I wouldn’t go as far as saying he is ducking Yan. I think a lot of people don’t know how life changing holding a UFC belt is. You get a new contract, PPV points and better sponsors/brand deals.

I think Sterling wants every chance on his side and fighting with an injury against Yan is a great way to lose your belt.

It would be funny if Sterling ends up getting stripped without defending the belt.

 

[fatmanthenextbatman]

this is starting to get funny. Aljo's a clown and i find this amusing. He's holding on to that belt as long as he can for sponsorships and such. I don't blame him since they're not paid well. Let's see how this unfolds.

 

[Doughie99]

Some bad luck with injuries sure but on the flip side not sure you can call weight cutting indiscipline an injury. That's pure and simple on her. She missed her last fight weight by 7 pounds and then was released. If she couldn't make the weight she had the opportunity to move up. She choose to attempt to fight at that weight. Suffice to say she'll not be missed in the slightest.

Exactly this.