Aljamain Sterling evidently has no problem holding MMA managers accountable for their shortcomings and isn’t shy about putting MMA referees on blast, either. This references a recent instance where the 36-year-old found himself frustrated with overseeing referee Herb Dean during Sterling’s dominant performance that saw him secure a win over Brian Ortega.
Delving deeper into details on why Dean got under his skin at UFC Shanghai during his recent catchweight contest, when in an appearance on Uncrowned’s The Ariel Helwani Show, Sterling said [via Uncrowned],
“When I talk about someone coming in the backroom and giving the fighters rule meeting and having almost like the most dismissive attitude, and just not wanting to even be there to do the meeting, that’s a red flag. And I think that just kind of signals, maybe you’re not having as much fun doing this as you used to. Maybe with the popularity, you feel like you’re too big for the sport, to always want to get so involved in a fight.”
“I’ve never seen someone get hurt [like Sterling saw in the final round of his co-main event Ortega clash] and Herb yells at them to engage in a fight when he’s right there, seeing that the person just got hurt. Then, when you hurt the other guy, he says absolutely nothing when the other guy is doing the same exact thing for literally 34 seconds. I’ve counted this to make sure I’m not being biased.”
“I don’t know, man. I get a takedown, Brian ties up my arms in almost like this rubber guard position, and [Dean] is yelling at me to work. I said something to him in the middle of the fight, I’m like, ‘Well, tell him to open up his guard!’ What am I supposed to do?”
“If you were a former fighter, how are you not understanding these positions? If you’re going to say something to me, say something to him too. Obviously [Brian Ortega] wants the fight to stand up, so I understand Brian, what he’s doing, but you can’t fault me when I can’t get my arm out. I’m just supposed to make a mistake?”