"He ran away like a sneaky fox" - Petr Yan reveals how he felt after Aljamain Sterling was forced to pull out of UFC 267
Petr Yan was frustrated when he found out that Aljamain Sterling was forced to pull out of their scheduled rematch at UFC 267 due to a neck injury. According to Yan, Sterling "ran away like a sneaky fox."
Petr Yan said he was looking forward to reclaiming his title in the rematch with 'Funk Master' and was very disappointed to be deprived of the opportunity.
Yan said he doesn't understand why Sterling didn't get the surgery done before or after their initially scheduled rematch. Sterling's decision to pull away from the fight has left the bantamweight division in a mess, claimed Yan.
"Yeah, of course, I wanted to regain my belt in a rematch with Sterling but as we all know, he ran away like a sneaky fox... Sterling is chicken bro. I don't want to talk about him... Nothing personal, it's just his decision to make this surgery right now. I don't know why he hadn't done it earlier or later in his career but now he's like the whole division in a mess," Petr Yan told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour.
Watch Petr Yan's appearance on The MMA Hour below:
One mistake cost Petr Yan the bantamweight title at UFC 259
Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling locked horns in a bantamweight title fight which headlined UFC 259. After dominating most of the contest, Yan made a critical mistake which cost him the title.
Yan kneed Sterling flush in the temple despite 'Funk Master' being grounded at the time, rendering the American unfit to continue.
Check out the illegal knee below:
Aljamain Sterling is the NEW UFC Bantamweight Champion after this illegal knee disqualified Petr Yan #UFC259
https://t.co/lQ6ITgu9ip
In the UFC, kneeing a grounded opponent is illegal and will lead to disqualification if the victim is unable to continue. In this case, Sterling failed to recover and was handed the win via DQ. This was the first time in UFC history that a championship title changed hands via disqualification.
Petr Yan had a chance to avenge his loss at UFC 267, but Sterling was forced to pull out. The Russian will now take on Cory Sandhagen in an interim title fight at the upcoming UFC 267 pay-per-view. The winner is expected to fight Aljamain Sterling in a title-unification bout down the line.
Ready and focused #ufc267 https://t.co/xnnp9V4plA