Daniel Cormier showers praise on "amazing" Aljamain Sterling for beating Petr Yan in immediate rematch
Daniel Cormier was mighty impressed with Aljamain Sterling's performance in an immediate rematch with Petr Yan at UFC 273.
Yan dropped the title to Sterling via disqualification at UFC 259 last year after he landed an illegal knee in the fourth round. The MMA community gave a lot of stick to 'Funk Master' owing to the fact that 'No Mercy' dominated the majority of that fight.
Sterling accepted the unpleasant criticism and silenced his doubters when he defended his bantamweight championship against Yan at UFC 273 earlier this year.
#UFC273
Sterling by decision! 👑 #UFC273 https://t.co/RGPURKEvvw
Former two-division UFC champion Daniel Cormier showered praise on Sterling on ESPN MMA's DC & RC for his bounce-back performance against Yan after the Russian "embarrassed" him in their first fight:
"What was most impressive was that he turned that around after what Petr did to him the first time. Petr Yan embarrassed him the first time. When he got kneed on the ground and won the championship in that way... Aljamain Sterling got embarrassed. He got taken down, he was getting beat, looked like he was about to get finished. He flipped that result in a very short period of time."
Watch the latest edition of DC & RC below:
Daniel Cormier details the path to victory for Aljamain Sterling against T.J. Dillashaw
Aljamain Sterling will aim to make his second defense of the bantamweight championship against T.J. Dillashaw in the co-main event of UFC 280 this weekend.
A black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, 'Funk Master' is known for his slick submission skills. Sterling has four submission victories in the UFC, most noteworthy of which came against No.4-ranked contender Cory Sandhagen in the first round of their clash at UFC 250 in 2020.
Speaking about Sterling's path to victory against Dillashaw on ESPN MMA's DC & RC, Daniel Cormier stated that the bantamweight champion's grappling prowess could come in handy at UFC 280:
"The guy is amazing. He has tremendous skills and the way that he can grapple with these guys because he's so long is a real problem. So, if Aljamain Sterling can make this fight take place on the ground, he has a very clear path to victory over T.J. Dillashaw."
Cormier added:
"Dillashaw, on paper, did more in wrestling than Sterling. But what I will say is, Sterling has been able to apply the wrestling in mixed martial arts better."