Aljamain Sterling Contemplated Ending Career After UFC Vegas 116

Aljamain Sterling (26-5 MMA, 18-5 UFC) entered this weekend's UFC Vegas 116 at the Meta Apex in Enterprise, NV with a 3-2 record in his last five fights. Four of those fights happened after "Funk Master" switched divisions to the featherweight ranks.

Although he was the No. 5 contender at 145 lbs heading into Saturday night's action from the Apex facility, he was wrestling with a secret and asked himself a question of whether or not he wanted to continue in MMA pending the result of the main event of the evening versus No. 7 contender Youssef Zalal (18-6-1 MMA, 8-4-1 UFC.) 

In the event that you happened to miss UFC Vegas 116 over the weekend, Sterling emerged victorious from the main event encounter with Youssef Zalal by way of unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 49-45) after 25 minutes of action. With the victory, his 18th under the UFC banner, Aljamain Sterling has bought himself more time in MMA.

Aljamain Sterling Discusses Possibility of Retirement After UFC Vegas 116

Late Saturday night, following the evening's main event, Aljamain Sterling appeared as a guest of the UFC Fight Night Post-Fight Show on Paramount Plus. During the interview, the victorious "Funk Master" revealed that had the fight gone the other direction, he may have hung up his gloves this weekend.

"If I can't compete, I don't want to do this anymore," he told the panel on-set. "It's not that I don't want to do it because there's no future for it, it's just, if I can't compete with these young guys, why are you sticking around, taking an ass-whooping for no reason?"

Dustin Poirier, who retired from competition last July in New Orleans, was on the studio panel for UFC Vegas 116 over the weekend. "The Diamond" referenced how Sterling likened the contest with Zalal to his own bout versus Benoit Saint-Denis in March of 2024 in UFC 299.

"That was my mindset going into that one," Poirier commented. "If I can't beat this guy, what am I doing anymore?"

Aljamain Sterling on Title Aspirations

With Saturday night's win, Sterling has assured himself of taking the next step toward a shot at the UFC Featherweight Championship at a later date. On the post-fight show Saturday night, he talked about the evolving title picture picture at 145.

"Here's my perfect world: The division's wide-open," he said. "I think everyone can kind of agree with that. I think the most-deserving guy is, for sure, Movsar Evloev. I would not deny him that opportunity."

From there, he discussed how he fits into the mix.

"Other than that, the division is wide-open," he continued, "especially given the state of the division, or if you want to give me another one, I don't care. I'm not looking for handouts. Like I said, I'm calling for my shot because I think I earned it."

Dominant Performance From Aljamain Sterling Caps Lackluster Saturday Night at Meta Apex

Numerically speaking, the UFC tied a record it sought to avoid when the evening began on Saturday night in Enterprise, NV. All told, this weekend's card is now level with UFC 263 in June of 2021 in terms of fights having gone to decision on a single event with 11 contests needing the scorecards to decide a winner.

The last five fights on the main card, including Aljamain Sterling's win over Youssef Zalal, ended by way of decision. When the topic of discussion is the statistics of the main event, it was one-way traffic for the contestant fighting out of the red corner over the weekend.

While Sterling narrowly bested Zalal in significant strikes by a final count of 46-35 on Saturday, the ground game is one of the the true takeaways from the headlining affair. Over the course of the five rounds of action, Sterling completed six takedowns out of a possible 11 attempted.

Zalal, on the other hand, did not attempt any takedowns. 

Striking On-Point for Aljamain Sterling

Another key statistic for the UFC Vegas 116 is the difference in total strikes landed during the 25 minutes inside the fabled Octagon. During the five-round contest, Aljamain Sterling blew out Youssef Zalal in that category by a tally of 220-61. 

Sterling's combination of precise striking and superb takedown offense told the story this past weekend, and that's why he's got another win on his resume. Whether or not it eventually yields to a featherweight title remains to be seen.