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Aljamain Sterling has hit back at Petr Yan amid their ongoing war of words. Sterling said he's "not rushing back to prove how tough" he is.
In a pair of notable tweets, the reigning UFC bantamweight champion criticized Petr Yan for talking about his fiancée. Sterling also called Yan out for withdrawing from their fight in December 2020. Sterling's tweets read as follows:
“You posted a f**king screen shot picture of my fiancée and I hanging out, saying I have a new job. I guess I’m lying then, because somehow you don’t consider that family. Like I said we WILL FIGHT AGAIN. I’m not rushing back to prove how tough I am, you dumb cu*k”
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Aljamain Sterling was set to fight Petr Yan at UFC 256 back in December 2020. Sterling was the UFC bantamweight division’s No. 1 contender, whereas Yan was the reigning champion.
The fight ended up being postponed, however, as Yan withdrew from UFC 256. It was initially reported that Yan pulled out due to “personal reasons.” Regardless, it was later confirmed that COVID-related visa and travel issues made it impossible for Yan to travel from Russia to the US, which is why he pulled out of UFC 256.
Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan’s first fight escalated their feud
Despite the aforementioned series of events, their title feud was still quite respectful. This changed after their fight, which took place at UFC 259 in March 2021. The bout saw Sterling defeat Yan via DQ (Disqualification) due to the Russian landing an illegal knee in round four of their fight.
The title feud between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan has continued to this very day. Sterling was scheduled to defend his title against Yan in a rematch at UFC 267 on October 30th, 2021.
Unfortunately, ‘Funk Master’ pulled out of the fight on September 25th, 2021, as he’s yet to recover from a few health issues. Presently, the belief is that with Aljamain Sterling pulling out of their rematch, Yan could fight Cory Sandhagen or another top-tier bantamweight for the interim UFC bantamweight title at UFC 267.
