Aljamain Sterling is not one to create a ruckus if he can help it. Sterling (26-5) dominantly defeated Youssef Zalal at UFC Fight Night 274 last weekend. Something unusual occurred at the pre-fight press conference that captured the attention of fans and pundits. Sterling had placed two bottles of his “Funk Harbor” liquor in front of him at the presser. However, a UFC staff member suddenly asked Sterling to remove the bottles, and “Funkmaster” obliged without any fuss. Sterling recently revealed that he had permission from UFC executive Hunter Campbell to display his bottles, which he had been doing for his past few fights. Sterling claims he has barely had any issues with the UFC staff, barring a stray incident when he was bantamweight champion. Sterling says the UFC staff member who recently asked him to remove the bottles later made it up to him. According to Sterling, he could have easily gotten confrontational, but decided not to, as it wouldn’t have helped anyone.
“That was a weird one,” Sterling said on “The Ariel Helwani Show.” “Hunter told me I could do it in the past and I've done it for the last four fights. I was kind of confused… They were like, ‘It’s not a sponsor.’... I was like, ‘You’re lucky I love you Nabi.’ They take care of us behind the scenes. They are always pleasant for me to work with. I’ve had only one incident with one other worker before… They were being kind of an a**. And I was champ at that time and they were trying to violate me. I was like, ‘Bro, na we’re not doing that.’ I just try to handle everything with class as best as I can. I could easily flip the script and just be that guy. But it doesn’t get anybody anywhere. She did right by me afterwards and allowed me to take some photos with the UFC team. She made up for it, and I spoke to her afterwards.” Since the UFC 2015 deal with Reebok, fighters are not allowed to wear logos of private sponsors on their gear, limiting their sponsorship opportunities.
Aljamain Sterling on UFC officials taking away his Funk Harbor bottles at the pre-fight presser: "That was a weird one. Hunter told me I could do it in the past and I've done it for the last 4 fights. I was kind of confused... The UFC staff is always pleasant for me to work… pic.twitter.com/RcD9yR91v3— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 27, 2026