Aljamain Sterling lays out his path to retirement, including becoming champ-champ: “I think that is the perfect scenario”

By Cole Shelton - May 1, 2023

Aljamain Sterling has plan for how he wants to finish off his career.

Aljamain Sterling

In the main event of UFC 288 on Saturday, Sterling is set to defend his bantamweight title against Henry Cejudo, as ‘Triple C’ is ending his retirement with hopes of reclaiming the title. It’s an intriguing matchup and it’s likely the winner will face Sean O’Malley next, but Sterling is also ready for what’s after ‘Suga Sean’.

“The perfect scenario, I smash Henry, I smash O’Malley, I go up to 145, I fight Volkanovski or Rodriguez, and maybe I defend the belt one time, and I’m done,” Sterling said to ESPN. “I think that is the perfect scenario because at that point, what else do I have to prove? I’m going to keep fighting until someone finally beats me? That’s not the mentality I want to go in there with. If I don’t feel like I have something to prove, it doesn’t get me up and excited for it.”

Aljamain Sterling believes he can have a lot of success at featherweight as he knows he is a big bantamweight and plans to talk to the UFC PI about the potential move. But, if he does move up, he wants an immediate title shot so he can become a champ-champ and end his career that way as he doesn’t just want to continue fighting just to fight.

“I think after this fight we will do an assessment when I’m a little bit bigger, fat, and happy. We will go from there and see where my strength level is compared to everybody else,” Sterling said. “I know when it comes to grappling, a lot of these guys I think I smoke, that’s not trying to be cocky or anything.”

Although Sterling has plans to move up to 145lbs and become a champ, in order to do that, he will need to beat Cejudo on Saturday.

Do you think Aljamain Sterling could be a champ-champ?


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