Aljamain Sterling has issued a defiant statement on social media following his defeat at UFC 310.
The former bantamweight champion looked to continue his featherweight title reign, which began with his defeat of Calvin Kattar, when he took on top contender Movsar Evloev on Saturday night at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Sterling was competitive throughout the 15-minute wrestling affair, but he ultimately fell victim to a unanimous defeat thanks to the judges' scorecards 29-28, 29-28 and 29-28.
Joe Rogan and Khabib Nurmagomedov immediately called on the 19-0 Russian to take a shot at featherweight champion Ilia Topuria next – but Evloev declined to make a call during his post-fight interview.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
Aljamain Sterling speaks out after UFC 310
Sterling didn't get a chance to address the crowd after a narrow defeat at UFC 310.
'The Funk Master' clearly had a lot to say when he took to social media shortly after heading backstage.
Sterling tweeted: “Tough fight…I thought I might have beaten it against a strong opponent but we came up short.
“Thank you all for the love and support and I hope the performance was enjoyable for you all to watch.
“Movsar is a beast, I showed where I belong in this division. For now, we decompress and recover, then get ready to climb the ladder again. The dream doesn't stop unless you give up! I will be back”
Sterling added photos and videos of himself interacting with his UFC 310 opponent.
The 35-year-old also added a clip reflecting on a tough fight that could have gone either way.
Aljamain Sterling was unhappy with the placement of the UFC 310 card
Despite being an ex-champion, Sterling was well down the card for his last fight.
Dana White deemed his Featherweight title eliminator unworthy to appear on the main card.
It wasn't even the featured preliminary round, which fans labeled as strange ahead of the final PPV of the year.
Sterling publicly addressed the issue days before his second appearance at 145 pounds.
“I didn't know if I should have been offended by the placement on the fight card or the glass half full. I think this is the best way I try to look at everything in life,” he said in a video on his YouTube channel.
“I get to fight earlier and finish earlier. Of course, I was a little confused by it. I think they have their rhyme or reason for what they do, the UFC brass, and that's what it is.
“At the end of the day, it's not my organization. I'm not in charge. I'm just going out there to compete, and it's up to me to go out and prove these guys wrong about me being a main card fighter. I think people are in for a really big surprise, and the UFC is going to realize, 'We messed up big time by not putting this on the agenda.'”
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