Aljamain Sterling reacts to cancelled UFC title fight, suggests interim title bout
UFC bantamweight championship challenger Aljamain Sterling has some interesting ideas after his title fight against Petr Yan at UFC 256 got canceled.
Yan reportedly pulled out of the fight for personal reasons.
Aljamain Sterling, in a series of tweets, addressed his canceled bout against Yan.
He first asked the 135-pound champion if ‘everything was good’:
"Everything good with you my guy @PetrYanUFC?"
In a show of absolute sportsmanship, ‘Funkmaster’ would then go on and state that ‘everything happens for a reason’ and hoped everything was good with Yan and his family.
He also added that they will ‘settle their business when Yan can be 100%’ focused:
"Everything happens for a reason. I hope everything is good with you and your family @PetrYanUFC We will settle our business when you can be 100% focused and ready to give the fans the best show we can. See you soon"
Prior to wishing Yan well however, Aljamain Sterling floated the idea of competing in an interim bantamweight championship bout at UFC 256:
The fight would've been Yan's first title defense. The newly crowned champion won the title at UFC 251 when he finished Jose Aldo to win the vacant title, last held by Henry Cejudo.
Yan had mentioned after his win against Aldo that he indeed wanted to fight Sterling next in his first title defense.
However, as per reports, Yan experienced visa issues in his trip to the United States, resulting in the bout being pulled.
If everything gets sorted out soon, Sterling and Yan will likely head to Fight Island in Abu Dhabi for UFC 257 in January of 2021. UFC 257 is set to be headlined by the highly-anticipated rematch between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.
No official announcements have been made regarding the Yan-Sterling bout being rescheduled however.
Aljamain Sterling cemented spot as rightful number one bantamweight contender at UFC 250
Aljamain Sterling needed just less than 90 seconds to submit Cory Sandhagen via a rear-naked choke at UFC 250 back in June.
The impressive win cemented Sterling's place as the rightful number one contender in the bantamweight division.
‘Funkmaster’ also netted a $50,000 Performance of the Night bonus. It was Sterling's fifth win in a row and second via submission.
After losing to Marlon Moraes back in 2017, Aljamain Sterling put together an impressive winning streak, beating the likes of Brett Johns, Cody Stamman, Jimmie Rivera, and Pedro Munhoz, before submitting Sandhagen.