NEW YORK – UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is looking for a big payday, and has named who he thinks would best fit the bill.

Fresh off the second defense of his title, Sterling is confident he will defeat anyone who the UFC decides is worthy of the next shot. Although he has already stated he doesn’t plan to return to action until mid-2023, he isn’t too concerned with who he may face next.

“I’ll whoop all their asses no matter what,” Sterling told reporters at a news conference on Thursday. “That’s how I honestly feel. If I had to match make, I’m gonna go by who’s the No. 1 contender. I don’t believe in cutting the line. I believe in doing things the hard way, the way I had to do it. I didn’t get any handouts. I had to fight through everybody in the top five pretty much, top 10. There was no shortcuts to just jump the line and elevate to a title shot opportunity.

“Even when I had a No. 1 contender fight, I think you guys could remember the UFC wasn’t so keen in giving me that shot that I earned, and who knows why? I guess, maybe my style. It seems to be OK when Dagestanis do it, but it’s weird when I do it, I don’t know. It’s like this weird disconnect I’m trying to figure out. Maybe it’s because I’m not Dagestani. I got to shave my mustache, and I think things would be OK.”

At UFC 280, Sterling defeated former champion T.J. Dillashaw by TKO in the second round. That same evening, in fact, the fight prior, rising bantamweight star Sean O’Malley defeated former champion Petr Yan by split decision. Considering his large fanbase, Sterling thinks O’Malley could be exactly what he’s looking for to bring more money to the box office.

“If I had to pick somebody, give me the money fight,” Sterling said. “Whichever one that is – I think it’s personally O’Malley. And people may think, ‘Oh, you’re just going to take him down and steamroll him.’ I think I would do that to anybody.

“So, he could catch me the same way I could take him down, and it would be a short night for him. The same way he could catch me and it would be a short night for myself as well.”