At UFC 310 this past Saturday, former UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling experienced his first loss since transitioning to the featherweight division, prompting him to reconsider his future in the sport.
Sterling made his debut in the featherweight category this past April at UFC 300, where he defeated Calvin Kattar and quickly positioned himself in title contention.
Originally scheduled to fight Movsar Evloev at UFC 307, Sterling had to withdraw due to a shoulder injury. The match was then rescheduled and took place at UFC 310.
Despite putting forth a solid performance, Sterling suffered his second defeat in three bouts, while Evloev remained undefeated by securing a decision victory.
After the fight, the two competitors shared an embrace backstage and engaged in a discussion about their contest. Shortly after, Sterling took to his YouTube channel to provide a more in-depth analysis of the fight.
Before stepping into the octagon, Sterling was feeling unwell and hoped the commission would not notice his condition.
“I drank a PRIME, I don’t know what happened, it turned my stomach and I thought I was good, and then I felt like I had to yack in the back,” he shared in his YouTube video.
He continued, “When they called us to go down in the back tunnel, I’m like ‘Hold on bro’, as they started doing the intro I’m like, ‘Is there a bucket because I need to puke all over this floor’.”
This incident is not an isolated one for Sterling; he recalls being sick during an amateur fight back in 2010 when he threw up between rounds.
After years at the top of the sport, Sterling is now contemplating his future and expressed to his team after UFC 310 that he might retire from professional fighting.
“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,” he added.
Unfortunately for Sterling, another major event overshadowing his fight was the altercation involving his teammates, Merab Dvalishvili and Dennis Buzukja, who got into a scuffle with a fan while walking backstage post-fight.
The fan reportedly started taunting Dvalishvili, and it’s come to light that he was acquainted with Umar Nurmagomedov and his team.
Buzukja later recounted that he ended up trading punches with the fan, providing details on what instigated the fight.
“I don’t know if he had touched Merab as we were walking in, but somehow he got Merab’s attention, and then Merab went and tapped his shoulder and gave him the finger, and then this guy gave him the finger back or whatever,” Buzukja explained.
He added, “He got all jumpy. Then as the fight finished and we were walking back on the other side, this f*cking guy came across the whole crowd and then goes and, you’ve seen the video, he grabs Merab’s arm and says something to him.”
Buzukja concluded, “Then we got into a little physical altercation. So hopefully no charges pressed and we move on.”
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