Aljamain Sterling Makes Surprise Retirement Claim After UFC 310 Defeat

The former UFC bantamweight champion is contemplating his future in the sport after suffering a close loss to Movsar Evloev at UFC 310 this past weekend.

Aljamain Sterling fell to 24-5 with the unanimous decision defeat to Evloev, in what was just his second featherweight fight.

He moved up to the 145lb division earlier this year, in the hope that he would be able to become a two-weight world champion.

He began his stint at featherweight with a win over Calvin Kattar at UFC 300, leaving fans pondering whether his wrestling prowess could see him make a surge in his new division.

However, the ‘Funkmaster’ met his match in this department with Evloev, with the Russian landing four of five takedowns and securing over six minutes of control time.

The loss has Sterling, now 35, questioning if he wants to ‘climb the ladder again’. He spoke of this in a YouTube video posted to his channel after the fight.

He said: “When we were in the back room, Ray (Longo) had just stepped out and I told the guys ‘I’m gonna let you guys know, I don’t really know what I’m gonna do from here, I don’t know if I’m gonna (continue)’.

“At 35, I don’t know if I wanna climb the ladder all over again.

“The end goal is so much further away, is that worth the time invested, the surgeries, the pain?

“I don’t want to retire but I’ve got to see what the UFC offers and then kind of make a decision from there.”

Aljamain Sterling: ‘I Can’t Train the Way I Used to’

The Team Serra Longo fighter has had a long career, beginning wrestling in 2004 and transitioning to MMA in 2009. This clearly takes its toll on the body, as it has for ‘Aljo’, who says he cannot train the way he could in his bantamweight days.

He continued: “It’s tough to even talk like this because I’m only 35.

“I know people think I still look good and everything, but my body hurts. I can’t train the way I used to, I used to do two, three training sessions a day – I can’t do that anymore.

“Even the grappling sessions that I would do to make 135 pounds, I feel like I can’t do that anymore.

“I can’t train the way I used to and I don’t know if that gave me an edge or just broke my body down more, but that’s just where I’m at.

“I’ve just got to see where the chips fall and go from there.”