'Softest fighter in the UFC' - Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling exchange bitter insults in a Twitter row
Top UFC bantamweights Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan appear to be preparing the ground for their much-needed rematch. The pair have recently engaged in a bitter one-upping game of insults on Twitter recently following the controversial end to their title fight at UFC 259.
The Twitter feud intensified recently as former champion Petr Yan accused Aljamain Sterling of playing victim, referring to the champ's decision to end the fight, resulting in Yan losing his title to Sterling by way of disqualification.
'Keep playing victim. Softest fighter on the UFC roster,' Petr Yan tweeted.
Petr Yan's tweet is the latest in a series of bitter insults exchanged between the pair on Twitter. The row started when Petr Yan posted a number of tweets with clips from their title fight and captioned them with Aljamain Sterling's quotes from the lead-up to the fight. Yan took a jab at Aljamain Sterling for getting taken down repeatedly in the fight after Sterling claimed to have an advantage in grappling over the former champ in the lead-up.
“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,” Petr Yan captioned his tweet Aljamain Sterling's quote.
Aljamain Sterling became the first UFC champion to win the title by disqualification when an illegal knee strike from the former champion Petr Yan rendered him unable to compete at UFC 259. Sterling has received a lot of criticism for overplaying the damage caused by the illegal strike to take the disqualification win.
However, Petr Yan seemed to be the fighter nearing victory up until the illegal strike called for a pause in the action. This has led to calls from the MMA community for an immediate rematch.
UFC fans join the Twitter war between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan
The social media battle between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan has garnered a lot of attention from the fight fans. While many people on Twitter and other social media platforms have come out in support of either fighter, the overwhelming majority of netizens have given their take on the situation in rather creative ways which are worth taking a look at.