"I was playing physical 'catch-up' for fighting much sooner" - Aljamain Sterling clears the air on his UFC 267 pull-out
Aljamain Sterling has put forth a statement addressing his withdrawal from his UFC bantamweight title rematch against Petr Yan at UFC 267.
Suggesting health issues related to his neck and spine, Aljamain Sterling noted that he isn’t exactly “injured.” He added that his nerves are still recovering from long-term trauma. ‘Funk Master’ highlighted that he’s dealing with fatigue issues and that he “was playing physical ‘catch-up’ for fighting much sooner.”
Part of Sterling's Instagram post's caption read:
I flew in @adrianyanez93 to help with training looks. I want to see how this week goes and see if overtraining was the real issue for all the fatigue, since I was playing physical “catch-up” for fighting much sooner than expected. I will discuss this more on my podcast today @theweeklyscraps. But here’s a quick version of what I’m dealing with. Thankfully the @UFC team understands how serious spine surgery can be and are allowing me the extra time to get my body right so that there are NO EXCUSES when I fight again. #GOMD #RentsDue #UnfinishedBusiness #TheWeeklyScraps! #FunkBandits”
With Aljamain Sterling out, Petr Yan could fight for an interim belt at UFC 267
Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan first fought for the bantamweight belt at UFC 259. Sterling entered the contest as the challenger. The bout witnessed Yan lose via disqualification (DQ) after landing an illegal knee in the fourth round.
Given the way the fight ended, many in the MMA community urged the UFC to book an immediate rematch. It was scheduled for UFC 267 on October 30th, 2021.
Unfortunately, Sterling withdrew from the fight on September 25th, 2021, leaving Petr Yan without an opponent for the event.
Presently, the consensus in the MMA community is that the UFC is likely to book an interim bantamweight title fight between Yan and an opponent yet to be determined. The most viable candidate to face the Russian at UFC 267 appears to be Cory Sandhagen. The matchup has not yet been confirmed by the promotion.
Aljamain Sterling is out of the Oct. 30 title rematch vs. Petr Yan, per @MikeHeck_JR and @DamonMartin. Lingering neck issues.
Plan is to do an interim title. Cory Sandhagen is the current frontrunner but nothing is done (remember, Dillashaw is coming off surgery.) Developing.