Aljamain Sterling didn’t want to celebrate at UFC 259 post-fight party, says guest Billy Quarantillo

UFC featherweight Billy Quarantillo, who was a guest, says that Aljamain Sterling didn’t want to celebrate at his UFC 259 post-fight party.

Sterling has been the talk of the MMA community ever since last weekend’s UFC 259 card, where he won the UFC bantamweight title via DQ against Petr Yan. It was a controversial moment as this marked the first time in UFC history that a fighter has won a belt via DQ. It was even more controversial because there were many fans and even fellow fighters who thought Sterling hammed up the knee to get the win. When photos of Sterling emerged following the fight with him wearing his belt, it gave even more ammunition to those who were against “Funk Master,” particularly after Yan called Sterling a “clown” for the photos.

However, one guest who was at the post-fight party says the photos were never Sterling’s idea in the first place. Quarantillo, the UFC featherweight who is close with the pair’s mutual friend Matt Frevola, was at Sterling’s after-party in Las Vegas. Speaking to the “Elite Sports Network” MMA podcast, Quarantillo gave a first-hand account of what actually happened at the party. According to “Billy Q,” Sterling didn’t want to drink alcohol or take pictures with the belt, he just wanted to sit on the couch and watch the fight again.

“All those memes and everything with him and the champagne and stuff, they made him do that. Like, (Sterling) didn’t want to do that. They’re like, ‘Yo, here’s the belt, take it, put it on, you fought for this forever.’ This wasn’t just this last fight, this was every UFC fight he’s had, every UFC win, going to every venue. It’s a lifetime that he’s celebrating. And of course, I know how UFC Twitter is with the memes and all that. But that was a thing they made him do. He wasn’t drinking, he had like one thing of champagne. He basically said let’s watch the fight again. Watched the fight and broke it down. As a fighter, that showed me where he’s at because he just wanted to break the fight down right away and get to work. I think in the rematch he’s going to be a totally different fighter,” Quarantillo said.

Quarantillo also said that he doesn’t know any more details about the situation between Aljamain Sterling and Matt Serra, but he believes the corner changes likely had something to do with COVID-19 related protocols, which he himself has experienced. Either way, Quarantillo wanted to clear the air about what really happened at that post-fight party.