Aljamain Sterling walked out of UFC Vegas 116 with a dominant main-event win over Youssef Zalal and a renewed sense of purpose at featherweight.
Sterling defeated Zalal by lopsided decision on Saturday, pushing his record to 3-1 since moving up to the 145-pound division and halting Zalal’s bid to break through against a veteran name.
After the fight, Sterling revealed the stakes he’d placed on his own performance. “I’m not going to lie to you, definitely thoughts of retirement and things like that crossed my mind,” he said. “Depending on how I lost, if I were to lose, and just being realistic.”
“If I can’t compete, I don’t want to do this anymore,” Sterling added. “It’s just if I can’t compete with these young guys, why are you sticking around just taking an ass whooping for no reason?”
Sterling compared the matchup with Zalal to Dustin Poirier’s 2024 fight with Benoit Saint Denis, asking himself, “Is it a passing of the torch type of fight?” Instead, he said, “I was just happy I was able to pass the test with flying colors,” later declaring, “I’m not a stepping stone for anybody.”
Looking ahead, Sterling referenced Movsar Evloev, who owns a unanimous decision win over him from 2024 and is being pointed to as the next challenger for Alexander Volkanovski. “I do think Movsar deserves it but if they offered me the opportunity, I’m not going to say no,” Sterling said. “If they offer it to me, hell yeah, I’m f*cking taking it.”
