Pictured: UFC champ Aljamain Sterling gets stitches after training accident, joking about being delayed in return

Aljamain Sterling received another brutal knee-jerk, but the UFC bantamweight champion can laugh about it.

Sterling took to Twitter on Monday night to share some photos of a gruesome cut on his lower lip that appeared to have been caused by his knee during a recent training session. ‘Master Funk’ wondered if he should stitch up the cut, which he finally did on Tuesday afternoon.

Sterling also joked that the stitches he received could delay his return to the Octagon until 2023.

“Stitched or not?” Sterling tweeted. “For the first time in the night. Courtesy of… you guessed it! Another knee in the face. I really don’t want this right now! ”

Sterling becomes the first fighter in UFC history to win a title when he is disqualified after he was hit with a blow. illegal knee from Petr Yan during their meeting at UFC 259 this past May. Because of the controversy stemming from that closing scene, Sterling and Yan were then tipped to rematch a few months later at UFC 267 in October. However, the Serra-Longo Fight Team star will be can’t make rematch because he is still dealing with some mental problems later recent neck surgery.

Instead of postponing Sterling’s fight again, Yan still went to the pay-per-view event and beat short-noticeable replacement Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision for the interim championship. newly created.

Sterling has previously said he wants to unify the titles by February or March next year, but that is yet to be confirmed.