{"id":445414,"date":"2026-01-29T15:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-29T15:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/445414\/"},"modified":"2026-01-29T15:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T15:39:08","slug":"former-ufc-champion-aljamain-sterling-worries-about-being-iced-by-ufc-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/445414\/","title":{"rendered":"Former UFC champion Aljamain Sterling worries about being ‘iced’ by UFC in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former UFC champion Aljamain Sterling has spoken about his goals, and concerns, ahead of the rest of the year.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe to say that Aljamain Sterling has been a bit more outspoken in recent months. Whether it be frustrations with the UFC or frustrations with the sport as a whole, the former king of the bantamweights hasn\u2019t been afraid to speak his mind<\/a> \u2013 which has earned him a lot of respect from some corners of the MMA world.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Aljamain Sterling calls out big featherweight contenders for fights in 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

As we look ahead to 2026, it\u2019s not clear as to what Sterling\u2019s role will be in the featherweight division. He\u2019s 36 years of age, holds a 2-1 record with the loss being a close one to Movsar Evloev, and seemingly isn\u2019t too far away from a crack at the belt.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview, Sterling had the following to say about his future, which included a quick shot at the promotion.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Sterling discuses his UFC future<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just here for a good time,\u201d Sterling told MMA Junkie and other reporters. \u201cI don\u2019t have much time left in the tank, so I got to get it going if I want to try to get another belt. I have to start now. I hope they don\u2019t ice me again like they did last year. One fight for the year, that was tough. I would like to get two or three this year. That\u2019s the goal.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI would imagine so,\u201d Sterling said regarding his next fight being dependent on the UFC 325 result. \u201cI would like to see Volkanovski win, one of the OGs get it done again. But to win two times in a row against a guy who punches hard like Lopes, it\u2019s a tough as, especially where Volks is in his career. I can see Lopes getting it done, but I\u2019m pulling for Volk, and let the best man win. I\u2019ll be there waiting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Quotes via MMA Junkie<\/a><\/p>\n

What should be next for Aljamain Sterling? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, BJPENN Nation!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former UFC champion Aljamain Sterling has spoken about his goals, and concerns, ahead of the rest of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[570],"tags":[64,63,786,785,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-445414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-fighting","11":"tag-mma","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}