Aljamain Sterling was nervous heading into UFC 300.
The former UFC bantamweight champion had already established himself as the all-time great at 135 pounds with his record-setting title win, but Saturday's event presented a new challenge. Not only is Sterling still reeling from his first loss since 2017, but his date with Calvin Kattar also marked the beginning of a new chapter as he moves up the weight class at 145 pounds.
“Game day in the backroom was when I really started second-guessing a lot of things,” Sterling revealed on Monday. MMA hour. “I was just having doubts like, 'If this doesn't work out, I don't know where to go from here.' Do I keep fighting? Or should I just call it quits?” [That] type of thing. And those were real thoughts I had. Because at the end of the day, I'm not just about collecting checks. There are a lot of guys that stick around just to do that. I respect them, but I'm here to be number one.
“If I keep going like this, will I just be in the crowd?'' I've made enough money, I've accomplished enough in my career, and I think, “Okay, maybe it's time to look for a new job.'' That's how I look at things. If you're not first, you're like last. ”
Sterling, 34, lost by knockout to Sean O'Malley in August, ending his reign as bantamweight champion with nine straight UFC fight wins and three title defenses from 2018 to 2023. I hit. This loss, combined with a desire to clear the way for his longtime friend and teammate Merab Dvalishvili to compete for the title, led Sterling to eventually move up to 145 pounds. But “The Funk Master” admitted Monday that there was more in store for the featherweight experiment than anyone really realized.
According to Sterling, retirement was a very real possibility in his mind.
“It depends on how it happened,” Sterling said. “If I had been thoroughly kicked by Calvin Kattar, I think it probably would have been over. And no one knew about it. I didn't share that feeling with anyone, not even my fiancée. That's just one thing. I said to her, “Well, I don't know if I don't beat him,'' but I didn't elaborate on what that actually meant. I just said, “Let's see what happens.” I don't know what will happen. ” That's how I interacted with everyone.
“My inner thought was, 'This guy is a good guy, but if you stand up for who you think you are and who you want to be, you can beat this guy.' If you can't do that, how can you defeat the man who is currently sitting at the top of the throne?”
Sterling ultimately avoided that fate. He dominated Qatar from pillar to post, wiping out the judges' scorecards and injecting himself directly into the featherweight conversation.
Sterling admitted that cutting weight to 145 pounds remains a challenge after years of struggling to reach the 135-pound limit. He revealed that he weighed 163 pounds on the day of the fight, which he admitted was surprising as he thought the fight would be easier than he expected. However, most of Sterling's fears about fighting at 145 pounds disappeared as soon as he stepped into the cage with Kattar and began to feel his abilities at the heavier weight.
“After that first round, I had some kind of confidence, I was like, 'Oh, I actually belong here.' This is where I was always meant to be,” Sterling said. “And the speed difference was obvious, the strength was obvious, the height was non-existent. It was like there was no height difference. He had a one-inch reach advantage over me, but… That was non-existent. I think I used my reach a lot better and more effectively – I outclassed him with my legs. Like I said, he really scared me. I think it shows a lot for me to go out and do what I did because I was a guy who was very competitive. And it's not just about winning. From start to finish. I held it.
“It takes two to tango. If he's not trying to give up position so he doesn't get finished, what am I supposed to do? I mean, Max Holloway beat him up for crying out loud. We couldn't even ignore it, and we saw what that fight was like, right? That being said, I was pretty disappointed until I went back and watched it, but really, I didn't like the performance. I was very pleasantly surprised and I was actually really proud of what I was able to do.”
Sterling is currently in great shape at 145 pounds. One name that is often mentioned as a possible next opponent after UFC 300 is Movsar Evloev, an undefeated grappling specialist who ranks in the top five of UFC's own media-generated rankings.
Sterling isn't bothered by the idea of fighting Evloev, but has another name in mind.
“I'd actually rather [have] of [Brian] The Ortega fight,” Sterling said. “I'm going for the belt. So if there's a fight for me, [if] You give me a choice to choose from, but I'm going to choose the highest ranking guy. Because I think if I can beat the highest ranking guy, all doubts will disappear completely. That's not to say that fighting Moffsar isn't interesting. I think the two grapplers, the way we grapple, it can be some very fun scrambles – especially in his fight against Arnold Allen, there were some fun scrambles there.
“But the Ortega fight is just as entertaining because of the grappling style. I have the wrestling, he has solid striking, I think I have decent striking, and we I think both are pretty solid on the ground in jiu-jitsu, and I think it'll be a great opportunity for a lot of good scrambles and maybe a lot of good grappling exchanges for people who don't really understand grappling. It could be done standing up, so I think it would be a cool fight for people to get involved and actually see where the fight takes place.”
