“Going to get worse”- Aljamain Sterling dismisses the narrative that Alexander Volkov vs Jairzinho Rozenstriluik was an early stoppage
Follow Us
Aljamain Sterling defended Herb Dean for his stoppage at UFC Vegas 56
Aljamain Sterling offered his own view on the latest stoppage controversy that took place during the Main event between Alexander Volkov and Jarzhino Rozenstruik. Like Steve Mazzagati and Mario Yamasaki in the days of ZUFFA the usual suspect this time was once again Herb Dean.
The referee has been known to make bad stoppages either letting the fight go on for too long or not letting the downed fight back and sometimes a mixture of both when he steps in to save a fighter being beaten down before he awkwardly waves the bout back on after realizing no severe damage was done to the fighter.
This Saturday saw Dean officiate the main event between Volkov and Rozenstruik when many thought he prematurely ended the bout in the very first round. The two heavyweights exchanged heavy blows in the short time the fight did last, however, Volkov landed a huge right hook followed by a blitz of punches that caused Rozenstruik’s mouthpiece to fall off while the fighter himself started crawling into a fetal position before crouching and moving away from the cage.
Many were quick to criticize the referee for another tainted stoppage but someone who wasn’t against Herb’s decision was the current bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling.
Aljamain Sterling believes Herb Dean saved Jairzinho Rozenstruik from unnecessary damage at the hands of Volkov
“As long as this fight lasted it was fun, Rozenstruik had his moments, tried to go for the kill, got caught with the rights and then caught with a nasty uppercut” said the champion claiming that from his vantage point it looked like Bigi Boy had gone limp twice during the exchange. “When you go limp, the fights over cause it looks like a big disconnect from the brain and the body, ” said Sterling as he clarified that but it doesn’t matter if a fighter stands back up to his feet because it’s just putting them at more risk in an unclear situation.
Sterling gave props to Rozenstruik for being in good shape as indicated by his ability to get back up quickly despite eating heavy strikes. “When you go back and watch the stoppage I do not think it was a bad stoppage cause it only could’ve gotten worse” said Sterling hinting that without the split second of a separation created by Herb Dean, Rozenstruik likely wouldn’t have been able to recover as quick and Volkov would’ve been able to decisively finish the Surinamese national.
“I just think there’s a very fine line between the red letting you live to fight another day and letting you get punished to the point that you will probably never fight another day” said Sterling as he commended Herb Dean for looking forward toward the well being of the fighter.
Stay Updated!
Jerin Mathew
(713 Articles Published)