Aljamain Sterling Admits He Accepted UFC 292 Title Defense ‘Against My Will’

If it seems like Aljamain Sterling is making a relatively quick turnaround in comparison to some of the other UFC champions, well, “The Funkmaster” agrees with that sentiment.

After defending his bantamweight title in a five-round bout against Henry Cejudo at UFC 288 on May 6, Sterling will return to action on Aug. 19 in the UFC 292 main event against Sean O'Malley.

“People don’t understand how much time I actually put into this sport,” Sterling said on his podcast (transcription via MMAjunkie.com). “Sometimes you could get a little burned out. Sometimes that can take a lot out of you mentally. That’s why, after this fight, I had so much things with Henry, so many things planned out, that I just wanted to decompress and stop thinking about fighting for once because I do so much to get to the fight and prep myself to mentally get ready for battle.

“I had that just kind of ripped from underneath my legs. Now I’m like, ‘OK, this time you motherf—kers are not doing this to me again.’ I’m going to fight, even though it’s literally against my will. People can say whatever – if Dana [White] were to hear this, Hunter [Campbell] were to hear this, they would say, ‘We’re not making him do anything.’ Let’s be real here, bro. Come on, dude. You kind of are. Let’s call a spade a spade.”

Sterling’s list of injuries has been well documented in recent months, and he would have preferred a little more time to get closer to full health. The Serra-Longo Fight Team product pointed out that UFC 288 foe Cejudo pulled out of a proposed booking against Marlon Vera on the same card.

“Like I said, I still have injuries that I’m still nursing to this day, and I’m not going to stop saying that,” Sterling said. “People can get mad at me. ‘You’re disclosing that you’re not 100 percent healthy.’ No one is 100 percent healthy going into a fight, and clearly I just fought.

“Henry just pulled out of a fight because he’s not 100 percent healthy. I wonder why that happened. … Behind the scenes, (UFC executives) have their ways to kind of make you, ‘OK, I’m going to do this for you guys again, even though I’m not going to get any thank yous for it.'”