Aljamain Sterling has had time to reflect on his latest loss, and his heart is telling him to keep going.

The former UFC bantamweight champion has logged two fights since moving up to 145 pounds, defeating hardy veteran Calvin Kattar at UFC 300 this past December and then dropping a hard-fought decision to top contender Movsar Evloev at UFC 310. Afterwards, Sterling, who turned 35 this year, revealed that he spoke with his team about the daunting task of climbing the ladder again and mentioned on his podcast that he hadn’t made up his mind about fighting again.

With another week to mull over his options, Sterling told Ariel Helwani he is definitively leaning towards continuing his fighting career.

“I want to compete,” Sterling said. “I just love it so much. Even when I was at Tampa watching the fights. There’s just something very, very addictive about the walk, the competing, the waiting period. The only thing that sucks, honestly, is the weight cut. Weight-cutting is just such a stain on the sport overall, but once that part’s done, the excitement of the training and then going in there competing in front of the world. I don’t think there’s any high like that, there really isn’t.

“For me to hang it up when I know I still have gas in the tank, I feel like I would be doing something that I might regret later on whereas it’s going to be like, ‘Damn, I wish I would have just done a few more when I know I had the physical capability of still doing it’ versus when I’m in my 40s and I’m looking back like, ‘Man, I could have done one more. I should have did it.’ So that’s where I’m at.”

Sterling had an eventful run as bantamweight champion, being the first to win it by disqualification after taking an illegal knee from Petr Yan at UFC 259. His defenses included a pair of razor-close decision wins over Yan and Henry Cejudo, and a dominant victory over a clearly compromised T.J. Dillashaw. It took Sterling seven years to earn his title opportunity, and there is not easy path for him to find another in the deep featherweight division.

That said, he has two names in mind that could keep his name in the mix, top 10 contenders Arnold Allen and Brian Ortega.

“I think [fighting Arnold in] London would give me 12 weeks or something like that, or 10,” Sterling said. “I think that’s ideal. This way I can help Merab and then have him finish up his camp for Umar. I can help out Nazim [Sadykhov] for his fight with [Ismael] Bonfim and then I can jumpstart my camp with the Umar camp and be ready for a March turnaround.

“Either him or Ortega, I heard he’s going up to 155. I love Ortega, he’s the man, dude’s super chill, but we’re not best friends or anything, so I don’t have a problem calling him out. It’s not anything disrespectful. … A fight with Ortega if he stays at ‘45, i would love that fight. He doesn’t have to worry about me maybe cracking him like Diego Lopes or anything like that, which makes it more fun in the sense of maybe we have a standup fight because his jiu-jitsu is very threatening. I’m not looking to play jiu-jitsu with Brian, because he might be better at that than I am, so I think it makes for a fun fight. It could be a fun standup fight or maybe a fun grappling fight as well.

“Or Arnold Allen, I think we both have very close fights [with Evloev], some people think he beat Movsar. We’re like the two defaults, but he said he’s fighting Yair Rodriguez, that’s what he commented on my post. I said, fair play, if he is fighting him then OK, cool; if not, then I would like to see him in March.”

Going 15 competitive minutes with the undefeated Evloev is a major reason why Sterling is confident he can still hang with the best. He gives all the credit to Evloev, but believes that with a few adjustments he can beat him and anyone else at the top of the division.

“I still feel like I won it, but obviously on the record it’s a loss,” Sterling said. “I’ve just got to move on to the next. I mean, this is the guy who’s supposed to be the next champion, so it lets me know exactly where I’m at in my career at 145 and what I’m capable of doing and I think I’m in a pretty good spot. I think I fight like that against anybody in this division, I think it’s going to be a bad night for them.”

TOP STORIES

Sure. Conor McGregor, Logan Paul, and the Ambani family (???) are supposedly working together to make a boxing match happen in India.

Petty. Jon Jones wasn’t letting Colby Covington’s latest loss go by without a few digs.

Anticipation. Islam Makhachev respects Arman Tsarukyan, but aims to finish him in their rematch.

Answer. Kamaru Usman heard Joaquin Buckley call his name and he’s open to the fight.

Washed. Matt Brown thinks Covington’s best days have been behind him for some time.

Off. Vadim Nemkov and Corey Anderson won’t be meeting in a trilogy bout.

VIDEO STEW

Conor McGregor vs. Logan Paul in India (???) reaction.

Classic.

Believe You Me with Cub Swanson, Michael Johnson, and Renato Moicano.

Buckley behind the scenes.

Missed opportunities.

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

What a year it’s been.

Gamrot vs. Pimblett?

Next for Randy Brown?

One more tease.

Nick Diaz check-in.

Get caposa’s weekly fight schedule here.

Happy holidays!

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Nurollo Aliev (9-0) vs. Yanal Ashmouz (8-1); UFC Vegas 101, Jan. 11

Jack Jenkins (13-3) vs. Gabriel Santos (11-2); UFC 312, Feb. 8

FINAL THOUGHTS

This McGregor-Paul-Ambani stuff reeks of B.S., but at the same time… it’s possible, right? We all acknowledge that reality was fractured when McGregor fought Nate Diaz instead of Rafael dos Anjos, and then shattered completely when the Mayweather fight happened in 2017.

We just saw Jake Paul fight Mike Tyson, think about that. Ten years ago, if you had said out loud that was going to happen, you would have justifiably been committed. Is it so far-fetched that the Ambanis could foot the bill for a McGregor boxing match in India?

Let’s hope so.

EXIT POLL

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