“Funkmaster” has a lot of thinking to do.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling suffered a significant loss at UFC 310 this past weekend (Sat., Dec. 7, 2024) as No. 5 ranked Featherweight Movsar Evloev scored a unanimous decision from inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
After his loss, Sterling posted about coming up short in his important fight on social media.
“Tough fight…I thought I might’ve edged it out against a tough opponent, but we came up short,” Sterling wrote. “Thank you all for the love and support and I hope the performance was a fun one for you all to watch. Movsar is a beast, I showed where I belong in this division. For now, we decompress and heal up, then get ready to climb the ladder again. The dream doesn’t stop unless you give up! I’ll be back!”
Tough fight…I thought I might’ve edged it out against a tough opponent, but we came up short. Thank you all for the love and support and I hope the performance was a fun one for you all to watch. Movsar is a beast, I showed where I belong in this division. For now, we decompress… pic.twitter.com/IGp82u9hPb
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) December 8, 2024
Today (Mon., Dec. 9, 2024), two days after his fight, Sterling took to his The Weekly Scraps Podcast to discuss his loss and the uncertainty of his future.
“When we were in the back room, Ray [Longo] had just stepped out, and I told the guys, I was like, ‘I’m going to let you guys know I don’t really know what I’m going to do from here. I need to let it settle a little bit, but at 35 [years old], I don’t know if I really want to climb the ladder all over again,’” Sterling said. “I don’t want to say from scratch, but the end goal is so much further. I’m at a point where it’s, like, is that worth the time invested for the surgeries, the pain, the training, the sacrifice? Do I still have that fight to commit to do that all the way up until the belt again, knowing that there’s still a good chance, like there’s still some other dogs that I could potentially fight and not have the fight go my way.”
“Do I continue, or do I just help out the guys and help them get ready for their fights and whatnot and maybe just take fun fights? I don’t know. I don’t want to retire, but I’ve got to see what the UFC offers and then kind of make a decision to go from there to see where my position is…It’s tough to even talk like this because I’m only 35,” Sterling continued.
“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 no more. Even the grappling sessions that I would do to make 135 lbs, 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. So I’ve just got to see where the chips fall and go from there.”
It’s no secret that the UFC CEO Dana White and Sterling have had a rocky relationship for the past few years. So, the road back to UFC gold could be long and brutal; however, Sterling is a good enough fighter to battle his way back into the conversation.
“Funkmaster” is now 1-1 in his new weight class, and we’ll more than likely hold his No. 9 ranking in the Featherweight division.
If there is one thing that Sterling proved at UFC 310, it is that he is for sure “a main card fighter.”
For complete UFC 310 results, coverage and highlights click HERE.