by Aljamain Sterling isn’t finished yet.
The former UFC bantamweight champion moved up from 135 pounds after losing the title to Sean O’Malley in August 2023. Sterling then made a successful featherweight debut at UFC 300 in April, earning an outwrestling victory over perennial contender Calvin Kattar. That set Sterling up for a matchup with top contender undefeated Movsar Evloev at UFC 310, which he lost in a back-and-forth contest despite his best efforts.
Sterling joined “The Ariel Helwani Show” on Tuesday to reflect on the performance.
“I’m a little conflicted,” Sterling said. “I still feel like I won, but in the balance it’s obviously a defeat [featherweight] Champion, so that at 145 years old I know exactly where I am in my career and what I am capable of.
“I think I’m in a pretty good position. I think fighting like that against everyone in this division, I think it’s going to be a bad night for them.”
Evloev vs. Sterling was a treat for fans of high-level grappling affairs. The fight was characterized by wild exchanges, exchanges and tussles in an extremely competitive duel that could have gone either way.
At 19-0, Evloev now sits comfortably atop the featherweight title fight – a spot that could have belonged to Sterling with a few minor tweaks.
Since his bantamweight title reign ended, Sterling has reflected on retirement and how long he will continue to compete. In the immediate aftermath of UFC 310, fans wondered whether the 35-year-old former champion might be making his final Octagon appearance.
But after distancing himself somewhat from the experience, Sterling concluded he had more fighting spirit in him.
“I want to compete, man. I miss that,” Sterling said. “I just love it so much. Even when I was in Tampa watching the fights.” [this past Saturday]The walk, the competition, the waiting time is just very, very addictive. The only thing that honestly sucks is the weight loss.
“Once that part is done, the excitement of training and then going there and competing in front of the whole world, I don’t think there’s that high of a feeling. That really doesn’t exist. And I can give it up when I know.” I still have gas in the tank, I feel like I’m going to do something that I might regret later, and then I’ll be like, “Damn, I wish I did “I would have just done a few more knowing I had the physical ability to still do it,” as opposed to being in my 40s and then looking back, “Man, I could have done one more.” “I should have done it.”
“So here I am,” he continued. “But it’s hard to go through such a tough training camp and get beaten like that. It kind of leaves a sour taste in your mouth where you just think, ‘Man, I did all this just to lose like that.’ in such a close fight?’ The positive thing is that I know where I am. I know that I can be the best in the world again. “Man, I just trained for weeks.” “I did two training camps in a row because of the stupid injury.”
Arguably the toughest test of Evloev’s career to date, Sterling was able to withstand the Russian’s strong wrestling game better than anyone in the UFC before.
Evloev is now poised to challenge UFC featherweight champion Ilia Topuria, possibly sometime in 2025. While the grappling matchup could be exciting, Sterling believes Evloev needs further improvements on his feet to compete with a talent of Topuria’s caliber.
“I think he could be a future champion,” Sterling said of Evloev. “If you ask me, I don’t think he’s going to be one to have a long tenure. Of course you can continually improve, right? Every time you get together with a more experienced man, you get better.
“I kind of look at fighting like Pokemon. Every time you fight, you level up and gain experience points. Hopefully one day you will develop further. Other than that, I think he could be champion. I think he’s good enough to be champion.”
Sterling admitted he planned to hit and beat Evloev, but the lifelong wrestler in him prevailed when it mattered most. Nevertheless, the fight was an extremely exciting three-round war of attrition that, in hindsight, would have benefited from two additional rounds. This would have been a valuable experience for Evloev, as he has not yet moved into the fourth or fifth round of the UFC.
A five-round rematch is interesting for Sterling on his next break, especially given the close nature of the fight. However, he doesn’t hold his breath in the face of this.
Instead, Sterling likes the idea of a trip to London for the UFC return in March.
Another featherweight contender and former Evloev opponent, Arnold Allen, piques Sterling’s interest. Unfortunately for Sterling, Allen informed Sterling that he was thinking about a possible dance with Yair Rodriguez. Therefore, Sterling has a second choice: two-time title challenger Brian Ortega.
Regardless of who he fights, Sterling likes the March time frame more than anything else.
“I think London would give me 12 weeks or something like that, or 10. I think that’s ideal,” Sterling said. “This way I can help Merab [Dvalishvili] and let him finish his camp for Umar [Nurmagomedov for UFC 311]. I can help Nazim [Sadykhov] for his fight in February with [Ismael] Bonfim, and then I could start my camp with the Umar camp and be ready for our turnaround in March.
“[Ortega has] I’ve fought the who’s who of the division at this point, so I just think it would be a great fight with two older guys. I think I’m a little older, but two guys who fought for the belt. He has good name value.
