Aljamain Sterling has one regret following Chris Weidman’s retirement: ‘It was just kind of rough’

By Fernando Quiles - January 23, 2025

Aljamain Sterling has reacted to Chris Weidman’s retirement announcement, and he has one regret.

Chris Weidman Aljamain Sterling

Weidman appeared on the official UFC 311 weigh-in show last Friday and announced that he is walking away from pro MMA competition. The former UFC middleweight champion has retired with a pro MMA record of 16-8. While some feel the retirement may have been past due, Weidman will not be fighting past the age of 40, which is a sigh of relief for many fight fans.

Even so, Sterling wishes the “All American” could’ve had one more fight.

RELATED: CHRIS WEIDMAN ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT FROM MMA: “I’M HANGING UP THE GLOVES”

Aljamain Sterling Wanted to Help Chris Weidman More for Last Fight

Aljamain Sterling and Chris Weidman have been friends and training partners under Serra-Longo Fight Team. The two hadn’t been as involved in each other’s camps in recent years. During an appearance on “The Ariel Helwani Show,” the former UFC bantamweight champion admitted that he wishes he could’ve been more involved in preparation for Weidman’s final fight.

“I did [know about Weidman’s retirement decision], we spoke about it after his last fight and he was at a crossroads and he told me the night before that he was gonna be making his announcement,” Sterling said. “I was like, ‘Damn, you made the decision,’ and it was just kind of rough because I kind of wanted him to do one more and I kind of wanted to be a part of it a little bit more in-depth. Obviously, we’ve all moved. So, we’re not all in New York anymore, but we still go back from time to time. It would’ve been nice to be a part of that to really make sure that everything was done the right way. I feel like from my conversation that there were some things that he could’ve done a little bit more of or could’ve done that I think would’ve put him in a different spot in the last fight.”

Weidman’s Career

Weidman can still hold his head up high looking back on his run. At the height of his career, Weidman ended the legendary UFC middleweight title run of Anderson Silva. He followed that up with successful title defenses over renowned icons Lyoto Machida and Vitor Belfort. While Weidman went 3-8 following the win over Belfort, no one can take away his accomplishments prior to the slide.

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Topics:

Aljamain Sterling Chris Weidman UFC