Aljamain Sterling vows to shut 'stupid clown emojis' by defeating Petr Yan

Aljamain Sterling is fed up with Petr Yan referring to him as a clown and plans to shut the Russian up when they lock horns in a rematch. 'Funk Master' and 'No Mercy' are set to fight for the bantamweight title at UFC 273, over a year after their first fight at UFC 259.

Sterling has seen a ton of criticism come his way since the first fight. The MMA community seemingly turned on 'Funk Master' after he became the UFC bantamweight champion last year. Many were displeased with how he conducted himself after winning the title via disqualification, the first time this has happened in UFC history.

The American, in a recent interview, said he's dying to get his hands on Yan. During a recent appearance on The MMA Hour podcast, the reigning bantamweight champion said:

"I don't really care, I just would have liked to have fought here in Vegas. That would have been a lot nicer but Jacksonville, Florida, Vegas, his backyard, my backyard, I don't really give a f**k, I just want to get my hands on this guy and shut this man up and all these stupid clown emojis. I can't wait to turn the world upside down on his head, it's going to be a pretty day for myself."

In their first fight, Aljamain Sterling became the new bantamweight champion after Petr Yan was disqualified. Yan landed an illegal on Sterling while he was grounded, prompting referee Mark Smith to stop the bout.

The Russian later claimed Sterling was fit to continue and was only acting so that he could be declared champion.

Following the fight, Sterling's teammates shared pictures on social media celebrating the win. This didn't go down well with Yan, who responded with a clown emoji.

The duo have been going back-and-forth on social media ever since. The bad blood between the two top bantamweights will finally come to a head at UFC 273 on April 9th.

Watch Aljamain Sterling's appearance on The MMA Hour below:

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Aljamain Sterling is making adjustments to his game due to "trash" octagon canvas

Aljamain Sterling says he needs to make certain adjustments to his game in the upcoming rematch with Petr Yan because of the apparently 'slippery' octagon canvas. Sterling has complained about the canvas being slippery and its influence on fights on numerous occasions in the past.

'Funk Master' revealed that he will be making a few changes to his kick-heavy game as a result, saying:

"The cage is trash, it's so annoying, like, you throw a head kick and you just look like someone just pulled the rug from underneath your feet... I got some things to make a couple adjustments for that going forward and hopefully we don't have too much of that going into this rematch cause I'm very kick heavy."

Even in his first fight with Yan, Sterling claimed he lost his footing and failed to capitalize on a potential takedown opportunity due to the canvas. He took to Twitter to highlight the issue.

It remains to be seen how the rematch plays out.