Behind the scenes footage shows Hunter
Campbell convincing Aljamain Sterling not to pull out of the Sean
O’Malley fightDana White was not happy with Aljamain’s hesitance to take the
fight 😬#UFC
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— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS)
June 8, 2024
Relations were a little strained between the UFC and Aljamain
Sterling leading up to UFC
292.
When Dana White first announced the UFC 292 title fight between
Sterling and Sean O’Malley, coach Ray Longo said that Sterlling
hadn’t yet agreed to the fight. Recently revealed behind-the-scenes
footage from “Fight Inc: Inside the UFC” shows White venting his
frustration at Sterling for putting the fight in doubt.
“So, we make the fight, Aljo vs. O’Malley. But when [Sterling] goes
out in the public, he says all the wrong things,” White said. “I
announce the fight and the first thing Aljo says is, ‘If my body
holds up.’ So, now you have fans going, ‘Should I buy tickets to
Boston, and a plane ticket and get a room, because this guy might
not show up.’ You’re either in the fight or you’re not in the
fight.”
The video then cuts to UFC executive Hunter Campbell negotiating
with Sterling to make the fight happen.
“I just want you and I to be on the same page, which is, [if] you
don’t want to fight Aljo, you don’t have to fight,” Campbell tells
Sterling. “I’m not forcing you to f—ing fight. So, you gotta decide
what you want to do. And whatever you decide, I’m cool with
it.”
Sterling expressed his grievance to Campbell about White slamming
him in public despite him having been a company man.
“So, I guess where I stand, it kind of puts me in a bad light where
it’s like, ‘This guy can’t get out of his own way. He kind of
ruining things,’” Sterling said. “And I’m like, I don’t get that
thought process of doing that to someone who’s always done whatever
was asked for him to do.”
Campbell tried to sell the fight as a huge opportunity for Sterling
to break into O’Malley’s readymade fan base.
“I can tell you, you’re at your f—ing peak. You’ve looked
incredible. And it’s just this opportunity for you to take his
audience that he has built in and introduce you to them,” Campbell
said. “But instead of using the platform and the increased media
coverage, it’s almost like you’re playing against it.”
Sterling’s title fight against O’Malley was announced shortly after
his split decision win over Henry
Cejudo at UFC 288 in May 2023. Sterling explained that his main
complaint was not having a discussion with the UFC before the
announcement.
“Like, I literally just fought and Dana made the fight then and
there,” Sterling said. “I know it’s a big opportunity. My only
thing, like I said, from the very beginning was, ‘Damn I just wish
we had a conversation.’”
Sterling went on to be knocked out by O’Malley in the second round
at UFC 292. Going into the fight, Sterling believed the UFC didn’t
want him to win and afterward claimed that White must be happy with
his loss. However, White claims athletes can be “paranoid” people
who forget that the promotion doesn’t decide the outcome of a
fight.
Sterling has since bounced back with a dominant unanimous decision
win over Calvin
Kattar in his featherweight debut at UFC 300.