“That never ends well” Aljamain Sterling refuses to be the face of the fighter pay movement after his reaction to Michael Chandler’s comments
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Aljamain Sterling backtracked from his battle for fighter pay on Twitter
Last week Aljamain Sterling made headlines when he took offense to Michael Chandler’s statements about UFC fighter pay and his defense of Dana White and the revenue system of the UFC. After a week of sparing comments on the topic and a youtube video, the bantamweight champion seems to have been assigned the savior gimmick in the fans’ and ex-fighter strife to attain more fair wages for people signed to the UFC, a monicker he made clear he is not interested in playing. \
It all started last week when Chandler in an interview with Ariel Helwani clarified that he was comfortable and on board with the UFC’s system of paying their fighters as the organization had made massive efforts to invest in the sport saying Dana White has had “10000 Sleepless nights.”
These comments didn’t sit well with Aljamain Sterling who on reading quotes from the interview said he was left. “Shaking my head.” Sterling then went on to make a 12-minute youtube video about his thoughts on the issue, where he highlighted that not everyone has the same road to the UFC as Chander.
Aljamain Sterling thinks Michael Chandler’s comments are disrespectful to younger fighters
Contrary to Chandler, who entered the organization after being a former 3 time champion in Bellator, Sterling said he entered the UFC on an $8k to show, $8k to win deal with small increments coming up in his next few fights culminating in a 14k/14k show win by the final fight in his initial UFC contract.
Sterling also felt that while Dana White deserved unending credit for the work he’s put in for the UFC, claiming he alone has had sleepless nights is disrespectful to other fighters who have been training day and night, putting their life in danger through weight cuts and ultimately getting in the cage since their childhood. Sterling also noted that many fighters have to hold down two jobs at the start of their careers as the UFC purses might not be enough to survive after the share to coaches, management and taxes are disbursed.
However Sterling backtracked on his zeal to stand up for increasing the share of the pie that goes to the fighters. Knowing the clear dangers in going down that route and making sour relations with the UFC Top brass, Sterling said on Twitter, “ I’m not looking to be the spearhead of fighter pay. That never ends well” claiming he was happy with the share he was pocketing despite the time it took to get here. “Being able to do what you love for a living in a blessing” claiming he is forever grateful but there are certainly improvements that can be made no matter how small they are.
Also Read: “I wasn’t surprised”- Sean O’Malley lauds Aljamain Sterling for his performance against Petr Yan
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Jerin Mathew
(713 Articles Published)