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Aljamain Sterling is sick of hearing the critics. He’s sick of hearing Petr Yan run his mouth. And this Saturday in the co-main event of UFC 273, the Uniondale native plans on silencing his doubters and unify his UFC Bantamweight title.
“It’s been a long year and I can’t wait to get back out there and right the wrong.” Sterling told MMAfighting.com.
Sterling and Yan originally met back in 2021, a fight Sterling was losing but ultimately won when Yan blasted him with an illegal knee. In the UFC, you are not allowed to land any knee strikes to a downed opponent, which Sterling was. See the illegal strike below.
The fight was then stopped and Sterling became the first UFC champion to win via disqualification.
Up to that point, Sterling was losing on the scorecards, so many fans, and Yan, felt the win wasn’t validated.
Yan immediately labeled Sterling an actor on Twitter and demanded a rematch.
Sterling, however, was forced out of an immediate rematch due to lingering issues with a neck surgery. Yan instead defeated Cory Sandhagen for an interim title. Yan won that match by an unanimous decision, crowing him the title.
This Saturday in Jacksonville, the two rivals will finally meet again in a title unifier.
“When they lock that door he’s gonna get ‘Will Smith’d,” Sterling told TMZ Sports.”I can tell you that. He’s gonna get Will Smith’d. And, after that, it’s gonna be a lot worse than what Will did to Chris Rock. It’s gonna be a beatdown.”
Meanwhile, Sterling has had his share of fun with people who think his win over Yan wasn’t justified.
Here’s one of his recent Tweets:
Click here to learn more about the full UFC 273 card and how to watch the pay-per-view fight.
prior coverage
Top: Aljamain Sterling celebrates after defeating Cody Stamann in their bantamweight mixed martial arts bout at UFC 228 on Saturday, Sept. 8, 2018, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Jeffrey McWhorter)
