UFC 267: Aljamain Sterling predicts the winner of Petr Yan vs. Cory Sandhagen

Aljamain Sterling has given his prediction for the interim bantamweight title fight between Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen, which is set to take place at UFC 267 this weekend.

Sterling's last two fights came against Saturday's co-headliners. His bout with 'The Sandman' lasted less than two minutes. He was able to use his high-level grappling to take Sandhagen's back and quickly locked in a rear-naked choke.

His fight with Yan could not have been more different. Sterling started relatively strong, but his stamina quickly began to desert him, whilst Yan simultaneously began upping the pressure. The Russian looked minutes away from potentially finishing 'Funk Master', before mistakenly landing an illegal knee.

The strike led to Yan being disqualified. As a result, Sterling claimed the title, becoming the first UFC champion to do so via DQ.

Yan and Sterling were set to rematch at UFC 267. However, after the champ dropped out on medical grounds, Cory Sandhagen stepped in, with the UFC making the decision to introduce an interim title to the 135-pound landscape.

Aljamain Sterling has now predicted who he believes will claim the interim belt inside the Etihad Arena. Speaking on the FunkMasterMMA YouTube channel, he said:

"I'm going with Cory Sandhagen. I think he's paid his dues. I think he's fought some of the best guys in the division... And I think if you watch the Marlon Moraes fight, Marlon's a dangerous striker and he made his striking look rudimentary. You know what I mean? Faking, touching, poking at him with his jab, leg kicks, spinning head kick. Cracked his orbital bone... Either way this is gonna be a fun fight. I'm looking forward it."

Aljamain Sterling on the depth of the bantamweight division

Aljamain Sterling also discussed the high level of talent within the bantamweight division outside of himself, Sandhagen and Yan. Amongst them is his own teammate Merab Dvalishvili, as well as several legends of the sport, including Jose Aldo and Dominick Cruz.

"You look at that top 15, even outside of that top 15. There's just so many good guys coming up. Guys on three-fight win streaks, three-fight KO streaks. That's pretty damn impressive and there's a lot of killers that people don't really know about."

You can check out the full episode from Aljamain Sterling's YouTube channel below: