Aljamain Sterling Critical Of UFC For Their Response To His Brutal KO

Aljamain Sterling was the victim one of the most brutal knockouts of the year against Marlon Moraes at UFC Fight Night 123 earlier this month, and reflecting back on the worst moment of his career he’s made it known that he’s unhappy with the way the UFC handled the immediate aftermath of the devastating finish.

There were plenty of instant replays of Sterling being knocked out cold on the live broadcast on FOX Sports 1, and the violent nature of the stoppage only led to fans becoming more concerned for the fighters welfare.

However, the cameras opted not to show Sterling as he continued to lie unconscious afterwards, and the commentary team moved on without providing updates on his condition, which in hindsight doesn’t sit well with ‘The Funk Master.’

“I enjoy being a part of the UFC, of course, but I definitely think they could have done a lot better with updating the fans and everybody else,” Sterling said on The MMA Hour show. “Especially, we have loved ones back home, so I had people trying to call me, trying to reach me, they couldn’t get in touch with me, obviously I was still delirious, delusional. Had no service, so the least they could have done was get a follow-up report and get something out for the press or something at least for the people who are actively checking and wanted to really know, who are actually really concerned about how I was doing, and to actually have some piece of mind and to know what was going on.”

Sterling also noted that despite having been stretchered out of the Octagon, the UFC brass made no effort to contact him in the days afterwards to see how he was doing.

“Not for nothing, I’ve been getting along a lot better with Sean Shelby and even Dana White himself, obviously it’s a business relationship so I don’t expect these guys to be my friends or my best friends, I don’t look at it like that. But at least a text message to say, ‘Just checking to see if you’re doing OK. Making sure you’re alive.’ I think that’s common courtesy. I’m technically one of your employees, no matter if you want to call it self-employed, I’m still one of your employees. If you were my boss and I didn’t like you, I’m still going to check on your well-being, that’s just how I am, but from a human being standpoint I think that would have been a cool thing to wake up to.”

Nevertheless, Sterling appears to be doing a good job of coming to terms with his first loss due to strikes and is now planning to take time off the recouperate after having fought four times in 2017.

“There’s not much I can say. You just take your hits on the chin and move on, that’s life. I’ve been knocked down a few times in my life and it’s nothing different. It just sucks that it happens your first time on the main card in your ninth UFC appearance and you get freaking put down in 67 seconds. It was just unreal.”

Ross launched MMA Insight (previously FightOfTheNight.com) in 2009 as a way to channel his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts. He's since penned countless news stories and live fight reports along with dozens of feature articles as the lead writer for the site, reaching millions of fans in the process.