“I got couple million in the bank, why am I still doing this?” Aljamain Sterling admits to contemplating retirement if he lost UFC 300 fight

Aljamain Sterling was prepared to retire from MMA if he could not beat Calvin Kattar at UFC 300.

“I got couple million in the bank, why am I still doing this?” Aljamain Sterling admits to contemplating retirement if he lost UFC 300 fight

Aljamain Sterling made featherweight debut at UFC 300 while considering retirement if he lost (Image via Imago)

Aljamain Sterling had really considered retirement as an option if he had lost to Calvin Kattar at UFC 300. Sterling recently came on The MMA Hour where he shared his thoughts going into the fight and how he competes, not for the money but for the love of the game.

Aljamain Sterling recently sat down for an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour. There he talked about the fight and contemplated his future.

We all have these thoughts that go through our head. And, it's just like, 'What the heck am I still doing here? I got a couple million in the bank. Why am I still doing this?
Aljamain Sterling via The MMA Hour
YouTube video

Sterling said that depending on how the bout ended he had retirement at the back of his mind. If Calvin Kattar had destroyed Sterling in that matchup, UFC 300 would probably have seen Sterling announce his retirement. He revealed that he had kept this thought to himself and shared it with nobody.

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Aljamain Sterling said that Calvin Kattar is good at what he does. But Sterling had to prove to himself that if he truly was the fighter he was claiming to be, he should be able to defeat Kattar. Sterling’s thoughts were that if he could not beat the fighter he thought he could beat, how would he be able to fight for the title and defeat the best fighter in the division? This was why we saw a wary and technical approach from Sterling at UFC 300 which UFC commentator Michael Bisping found to be rather “boring”.

Aljamain Sterling reacts to Dana White complimenting him after his performance at UFC 300

Sterling and Dana White have not always been on good terms. So when Sterling found out that the UFC CEO had complimented him at the post-fight press conference, he was delighted. He talked about this on The MMA Hour when Ariel Helwani told Sterling about White’s comments.

Aljamain Sterling and Dana White
Aljamain Sterling and Dana White (via Imago)

Aljo’s reaction to the UFC CEO’s comments was that he thought it was very nice of White for once. Sterling said he wondered if he had to lose his bantamweight title for people to cut him a little slack.

Aljo jumped to featherweight at UFC 300 moving up from the bantamweight division where he was previously champion. Sterling has already called out his next opponent at the post-fight press conference and it will be interesting to see what Sterling can achieve during his stay in the featherweight division.

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