{"id":37926,"date":"2026-04-26T19:49:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T19:49:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sherdog.com\/news\/news\/Aljamain-Sterling-wouldve-considered-retirement-with-loss-at-UFC-Vegas-116-200970"},"modified":"2026-04-26T19:49:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T19:49:12","slug":"aljamain-sterling-wouldve-considered-retirement-with-loss-at-ufc-vegas-116","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/aljamain-sterling-wouldve-considered-retirement-with-loss-at-ufc-vegas-116\/","title":{"rendered":"Aljamain Sterling would\u2019ve considered retirement with loss at UFC Vegas 116"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n
\n
<\/center>\n<\/div>\n

<\/center><\/p>\n

\nAljamain Sterling showed he still has plenty left in the tank on
\nSaturday night. | Getty\/UFC<\/b><\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

\n

Aljamain
\nSterling<\/a> has no desire to hang around beyond his expiration
\ndate in mixed martial arts.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the former bantamweight champion was willing to look at
\nhis career realistically had he fallen flat against Youssef
\nZalal<\/a> in the
\nUFC Vegas 116<\/a> headliner. Instead, \u201cThe Funk Master\u201d was in peak
\nform as he overwhelmed his foe with agressive striking on the feet
\nand dominant grappling on the mat en route to a unanimous decision
\ntriumph.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to lie to you, definitely thoughts of retirement and
\nthings like that crossed my mind. Depending on how I lost, if I
\nwere to lose, and just being realistic,\u201d Sterling said on the
\npost-fight show.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I can\u2019t compete, I don\u2019t want to do this anymore. It\u2019s not that
\nI don\u2019t want to do it because there\u2019s no future for it. It\u2019s just
\nif I can\u2019t compete with these young guys, why are you sticking
\naround just taking an ass whooping for no reason?\u201d<\/p>\n

Zalal entered Saturday\u2019s card with plenty of momentum. His
\neight-fight winning streak included five victories in the UFC, and
\n\u201cThe Moroccan Devil\u201d had dispatched veterans Calvin
\nKattar<\/a> and Josh Emmett<\/a>
\nin his last two Octagon appearances. Sterling would\u2019ve been his
\nmost significant victory to date, but Zalal learned he still has
\nsome work to do to reach that level.<\/p>\n

\u201cIs it a passing of the torch type of fight?. I was just happy I
\nwas able to pass the test with flying colors,\u201d Sterling said. \u201cI\u2019m
\nnot sticking around \u2014 I\u2019ve got enough money, could always use a
\nlittle bit more though \u2014 but it\u2019s just one of those things. This
\nsport hurts. Ain\u2019t nobody looking to stick around and let these
\nyoung bucks just beat you up.\u201d<\/p>\n

Looking Ahead<\/h2>\n

Sterling is now 3-1 since moving up to 145 pounds. He likes the
\nidea of a championship showdown with fellow veteran Alexander
\nVolkanovski<\/a>, but he also admits that Evloev is the most
\ndeserving featherweight contender at this point in time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do think Movsar deserves it but if they offered me the
\nopportunity, I\u2019m not going to say no,\u201d Sterling said. \u201cI\u2019m not
\ngoing to say this guy deserves it. If they offer it to me, hell
\nyeah, I\u2019m f\u2014ing taking it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to give it everything I\u2019ve got until the wheels fall
\noff. I think it\u2019s a fight (vs. Volkanovski) that everybody would
\nlove to see. Two OG\u2019s of the sport. Why not? It just makes a whole
\nlot of sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sterling dropped a unanimous decision to Evloev at UFC 310 in
\nDecember 2024. It was a closely-contested bout, and some observers
\neven thought Sterling might have deserved the nod. Not suprisingly,
\nthat includes \u201cThe Funk Master\u201d himself.<\/p>\n

“I just don’t want to feel like I’m talking s\u2014t to Movsar because
\nI’m not,” Sterling said at the post-fight press conference. “I
\nrespect the guy. People might say whatever. I just do truly feel
\nlike I won that fight. If not, it’s a draw, at worst. At the end of
\nthe day, the UFC makes the decisions. I’m just here to do my part,
\ncollect some checks, drink some rum, smoke some fine cigars after
\nthe fine work is done. I’m just enjoying life, living the dream.
\nI’m living the American dream, and that’s what it’s all about.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Aljamain Sterling showed he still has plenty left in the tank on Saturday night. | Getty\/UFC Aljamain Sterling has no desire to hang around beyond his expiration date in mixed martial arts. That\u2019s why the former bantamweight champion was willing to look at his career realistically had he fallen flat against Youssef Zalal in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37927,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37926","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-martial-arts-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37926","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37926"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37926\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37927"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37926"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37926"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.martialartskleinanzeigen.com\/videos\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37926"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}