Yesterday, news came out that UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling vs TJ Dillashaw was targetted for UFC 279. Although there was no official announcement from the company, it seemed the news was concrete given the source. However, in a video on his YouTube channel, Aljo has rubbished the story.
He stated that no official papers have been signed yet regarding the fight against TJ. Aljo has cited monetary issues as the hold-up. The champ said that he is not happy with the amount of money is receiving for the fights currently. He explained the situation by saying,
“So the news has broke that I’m going to be fighting TJ Dillashaw… possibly for September. But one thing I wanted to disclose is there is no fight until there is ink on paper. As of right now, my contract is exactly the same.”
“Usually, when it is not a title fight, when you win a fight, there is an escalator. There has been no escalator in this fight. I’d like to think that I played my part, did the right things, and even allowed myself to be the bad guy in the last outing against Petr Yan.”
Aljo also added that he thinks TJ Dillashaw will bring in the most amount of money. But he is also open to facing other opponents like Henry Cejudo and Jose Aldo as well. But Sterling is not willing to do it for less money. He quoted the famous musician Fat Joe and ended the video by saying, “Yesterday’s price is not today’s price.”
What is the ‘escalator’ that Aljamain Sterling is referring to?
In the video, Aljamain Sterling explained what the term ‘escalator’ means in a UFC contract. When a fighter relatively new fighter makes his debut for the promotion, they get paid around $10,000 to make the walk to the Octagon and $10,000 more if they can manage to win. Once they win, the pay gets increased by a small amount.
Just like that, the fighters make more money as they keep on winning. Aljo revealed that the UFC has not increased his pay despite winning the belt and defending it against Yan.
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Aljo became the 135lbs champion at UFC 259 on the back of a 5 fight win streak. But the circumstances surrounding his title win were unfortunate. He only got the belt because an illegal knee from Petr Yan got him disqualified and allowed Sterling to walk away with the belt. It turned a lot of fans against him.
But The Funk Master did not complain and he embraced the gimmick of a bad guy. Hence, the lack of increase in pay feels disrespectful to the champ. It seems like Aljo is sticking to his guns and he will not return to the Octagon until his terms are met.
The UFC faced a similar situation ahead of the rematch between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker at UFC 271. UFC announced the bout even before the fighters had signed the contract. But Izzy took to Twitter and called out the UFC for not getting the papers signed before the announcement. However, both parties resolved the issue and the fight took place without a hitch.
𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐈𝐒 𝐎𝐍.
— UFC (@ufc) December 12, 2021
🇳🇬 @Stylebender vs 🇦🇺 @RobWhittakerMMA
[ #UFC271 | Feb 12 🔗https://t.co/ZrnO8qg7XH | @ToyotaCenter ] pic.twitter.com/dpW4jUTVWQ
Fans can expect a similar situation to play out here as well. The company and the champion will most likely come to terms before September and the bout will probably take place as previously reported.