'I still outstruck the striker' - Aljamain Sterling claims he exceeded expectations against Petr Yan
Aljamain Sterling seems to believe that he 'outstruck' Petr Yan at UFC 259. Aljamain Sterling was crowned the new UFC bantamweight champion after eating an illegal knee from Petr Yan. There has been some controversy surrounding the new champion as many believe that Petr Yan was clearly winning the fight. Yan was winning the fight on two of the judges' scorecards going into the fourth. However, the contest would end tragically as Petr Yan landed a knee flush to the temple of a downed Aljamain Sterling. Referee Mark Smith then stopped the fight on the advice of the cageside doctor, and Petr Yan was disqualified to make way for Aljamain Sterling as the new UFC bantamweight champion.
In the days to come, Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling have taken various digs at each other over social media. In a recent addition to the ensuing Twitter war, Aljamain Sterling returned fire by claiming to have 'outstruck' Petr Yan. Sterling also went on to mock the Russian's disqualification by saying that he lost the fight because he was a 'fu***ng moron'.
The banter between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan
Aljamain Sterling's recent tweet came in response to Petr Yan's recent onslaught with Sterling over Twitter. Petr Yan posted various clips on Twitter where he can be seen dominating Sterling during the course of the bantamweight title bout.
Petr Yan also mocked Aljamain Sterling's pre-fight claims about only needing one takedown to emerge victoriously. Yan posted a clip of himself putting Sterling to the ground with a trip and added Sterling's own words:
“I just need one takedown. I can shoot one hundred times, he can stop it one hundred times. If I get that one takedown, that 101st attempt, I get him down on his back, it’s gonna be a long night for that guy.”
Aljamain Sterling became the first man in UFC history to be crowned a champion due to a DQ win. Since this might not be the decisive end to the bid for the bantamweight title, Dana White has hinted at a rematch between the two since.