Ignored by Joe Rogan at UFC 300, Aljamain Sterling Told He’s Not Getting a Title Shot After Calvin Kattar Fight

After Aljamain Sterling defeated Calvin Kattar at their UFC 300 bantamweight clash, he, like all other victors on the card was expecting to be interviewed in the octagon by Joe Rogan. However, Rogan completely gave him the cold shoulder and ignored him, choosing not to interview him.

This rubbed many the wrong way with some feeling this was a deliberate snub by the UFC and Rogan to the former bantamweight champion. However, others were quick to point out that it might just be down to time constraints or even that the JRE podcast host may have simply forgotten. However, UFC commentator and former champion Michael Bisping thought this was because of the quality (or lack thereof) of Sterling’s performance.

Bisping thinks Joe Rogan ignored ‘Aljo’ because of ‘boring’ performance

Speaking on his YouTube channel about the bout, Michael Bisping analyzed Alajamain Sterling’s unanimous decision victory over Calvin Kattar at UFC 300. The former middleweight champion felt that ‘Aljo’ took a very cautious approach, which didn’t help his case for a title rematch with champion Sean O’Malley.

“So Calvin Kattar got defeated by Aljamain Sterling. Aljamain Sterling had a very safe, cautious approach unlike me. Aljamain Sterling proved to be the biggest, stronger wrestler, took down Calvin Kattar time after time after time. I don’t think that’s the fight or the performance that’s going to get him a title fight, though we know he was planning on beating Calvin Kattar and then calling out the champ,” Bisping told the audience.

The former champion was critical of the New Yorker’s cautious approach, and termed the fight as ‘boring’. “That ain’t going to do it, didn’t even get him a post-fight interview. Now I don’t know if that’s because of time constraints or whatever but it was a little bit on the boring side sadly. No offense Aljo you’re the man but that wasn’t a thrilling fight, let’s be honest.” However, the UFC commentator felt that while his performance was lackluster, it was understandable as ‘Funkmaster’ was coming off of a TKO loss to O’Malley and probably didn’t want to take many risks and was solely focused on getting a win, instead.

Sterling may root against good friend Dvalishvili in the next bout

Aljamain Sterling lost his bantamweight title to Sean O’malley at their UFC 291 clash last year. Although he wanted an immediate rematch, the one-sided nature of his defeat as well as O’Malley’s unwillingness to face him next meant the New York native will have to make his way up the division again.

Sean O’Malley has successfully defended his title against Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera at UFC 299 since then, avenging the only loss on his otherwise perfect record. And now, he is gearing up to face ‘Aljo’s teammate and dear friend Merab Dvalishvili. The Georgian had defeated former two-division champion and gold medallist Henry Cejudo at their UFC 299 bantamweight clash to become the official number-one contender for the 135-pound title. Crucially, however, O’Malley-Dvalishvili is expected to take place in 2025.

Which is why it is more than likely that Sterling will have to face at least one other top contender, perhaps Petr Yan, in a title eliminator to decide who fights the winner of O’Malley-Dvalishvili. However, another complication in Sterling’s plan is that he has been clear that he will not fight Dvalishvili because of the love and respect he has for his friend. This means that if ‘The Machine’ wins his title bout against ‘Suga’, ‘Aljo’ may choose to wait until Dvalishvili loses his title before fighting for the title again. This is why Sterling, despite his friendship with Dvalishvili, may be rooting for O’Malley in their bout. At least in his heart of hearts.