Aljamain Sterling doesn't believe in the "robbery" arguments against Sean O'Malley vs Petr Yan.

In UFC 280, Sterling successfully defended his bantamweight title against TJ Dillashaw, stopping the former champion in the second round.

In the fight immediately before Sterling's, O'Malley faced Yan in one of the most anticipated fights of the event, earning a split decision victory that some, including Yan, quickly called a robbery. But after going back and rewatching the fight, Sterling says that's nonsense.

"29-28, I gave it to O'Malley. That's my personal opinion, my opinion. Don't think I'm running away from Petr Yan, I think this fight was that close. Either of these guys I would fight. It's a tough fight, no matter what, so it doesn't matter. So, if you think I can fight O'Malley and it will be easy, it's not. If you think I'm just going to walk through him, I won't. I could. I could, but that doesn't mean I definitely will."

"I know Petr was really upset, but sometimes he leaves fights too close, with his style. Sometimes you have to be a little more definitive. Yes, he's defensively responsible in the sense of covering up to make sure he's protected before uncorking and unleashing, but at the same time, I think his inactivity, and we see this here with [O'Malley], we saw it with myself – it does hurt him a little bit. Even his fights with John Dodson, his fight with Jimmie Rivera, sometimes he gets a little too caught up behind the eight-ball, trying to land the perfect shot...

"It is what it is. Both guys brought it. It's a great fight for me, in terms of the financial factor. In terms of people tuning in to watch. I think O'Malley will help build the fight, I think Yan will help build the fight, no matter what happens. It's a great fight regardless of who wins, and for someone to call this a robbery, I think it's a little biased. I don't have a dog in the race. People will say, 'You just want the easiest fight!' To say that is crazy, because if you look at this, competitively, it was a tough fight."

Controversial or not, O'Malley's official won the fight, doing what many believed was impossible and setting up a lucrative title defense for Sterling next. Except UFC President Dana White already suggested that Sterling would face Henry Cejudo next, and Sterling avoided calling out a specific opponent, leaving things up in the air. And according to the champion, that's because, for now, he's more concerned with taking some time off than fighting.

"I'm hoping to potentially fight Henry Cejudo, 'Chito' Vera, or even 'Sugar' Sean O'Malley. I think there are a lot of great fights for me, and they're going to be competitive. Giving a guy like O'Malley time to prepare for me might be the best thing for him and for me, [but] I really want the downtime. These training camps are very, very hard. To go through the fight and people saying, 'You're unscathed.' Yeah, you're right, but I just fought in April, so why can't I enjoy some time off after fighting in April, after 13 months of rehab and shit? Mentally, it takes a lot out of you. Yes, I can say I don't care about everything I want, but I read the comments and it becomes mentally draining. Not just the chatter, but the whole package."