"Yan's dad returns in 9 weeks" - Fans back Aljamain Sterling to defeat 'snake' T.J. Dillashaw
Aljamain Sterling has given fans a teaser of his training as the bantamweight champion appears to confirm a bout is set against T.J. Dillashaw in nine weeks.
Many fans questioned the legitimacy of 'Funk Master's reign as the 135lb champ after he originally won the title due to an illegal knee from Petr Yan. At UFC 273 in their rematch, Sterling aimed to silence his doubters and did so with a split-decision victory against the Russian.
Sitting cageside at UFC 273 was Dillashaw, who Sterling called out in his post-fight interview. 'Lieutenant Dan' spent two years away from the sport after testing positive for a banned substance in 2019. The 36-year-old returned in July last year and defeated Cory Sandhagen by split-decision:
"Less than 9 weeks til I get to make a pair of snake skin boots!"
Many fans have reacted to the post in favour of Sterling, often using Dillashaw's previous history with banned substances as their reasoning for wanting him to lose.
One fan hilariously named Sterling as Petr Yan's dad ahead of his octagon return.
"Yans dad returns in 9 weeks"
During his octagon interview at UFC 273, Aljamain Sterling referred to the 36-year-old as 'Pillashaw', a nickname that has stuck in the MMA community.
"9 weeks until Pillashaw gets back packed and put to sleep"
"PEDillashaw is gonna get mauled to death"
Check out some of the other fan reactions here:
While there has been no official word from the UFC, it has been reported that Aljamain Sterling vs. T.J. Dillashaw is in the works to headline UFC 279.
Aljamain Sterling reacts to Henry Cejudo's UFC 276 antics
'Triple C' shocked fans when he announced he'd re-entered the USADA testing pool earlier this year. A former flyweight and bantamweight champion, Cejudo vowed he'd be returning to face the champions of each division and could even look to take the step up to featherweight.
Thus far, nothing has really happened with Cejudo's return. The 35-year-old stated that he wouldn't be fit until September this year and has spent much of the time in the last few months trying to find an opponent.
'Triple C' was caught making trouble at UFC 276 for bantamweight prospect Sean O'Malley. The former champ-champ crashed O'Malley's interview with BT Sport, with Cejudo challenging 'Sugar' to a fight.
Post-event, 'Funk Master' reacted to Cejudo's antics, sending him a message on Instagram:
"Whenever you get serious and want to step up to the challenge I’ll gladly spank dat Mr. Cedoodoo. Until then keep eating and crashing press conferences, as that’s the closest you’ll ever get to the octagon again!"