Aljamain Sterling Thought Of Retiring Before UFC On Fox 24

Alajmain Sterling entered UFC On Fox 24 on a two fight losing streak, but the streak came to an end when he defeated Augusto Mendes by decision.

If the fight did not go in his favor, the bantamweight star was considering retirement.

“I thought I won it. I thought, if I lose it, maybe I give up altogether,” Sterling said on The MMA Hour. “If they can’t figure out who won this fight then I just suck at this and I’m going to stick to real estate. I hadn’t won since Dec. 10, 2015. Long time coming when you think about it like that. It’s not like I never lost before, but, damn, it sure does feel good to be back and still showing I belong on the top of the heap.”

The two losses that Sterling suffered before UFC On Fox 24 came to Bryan Caraway and Raphael Assuncao. In that first loss to Caraway, the bantamweight competitor admitted that he was having stamina issues during the training camp.

“I mean, the Caraway fight, I gassed out doing three workouts the day of the fight,” Sterling said. “That was my fault. He did what he had to, so kudos to him. The Assuncao fight, I thought I won, but it isn’t like I dominated by any means, don’t get me wrong, but when you double up on strikes you should win the fight. But that’s water under the bridge at this point. I realize what scores in fights — people are more knowledgeable about boxing and punches. So I had to switch up a little bit and play to the system and do what I know I’m capable of doing. Yeah, I took more shots than I normally do, but it’s not like I can’t take it.”

Even though he has only won just one of his last three in the UFC, the victorious Sterling is still ranked in the bantamweight division top 15.