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Daniel Cormier has given his thoughts on why Aljamain Sterling wasn’t stripped of the UFC bantamweight title after pulling out of UFC 267.
Earlier this week, it was announced that the scheduled Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan rematch, which was expected to take place next month in Abu Dhabi, will no longer be taking place. That's as a result of lingering neck issues for champion Aljamain Sterling.
Now that 'Funk Master' has pulled out of his first title defense, the UFC has decided to book an interim title fight between Yan and Cory Sandhagen.
Following that announcement, Daniel Cormier has spoken about why he thinks the UFC has opted not to strip Sterling of the championship. In an episode of DC & RC, Cormier said:
“I believe that Aljamain Sterling accepting the fight and saying ‘I’ll fight him [Yan]’ saves him. Because if he’d have just said 'no' earlier, maybe they would’ve stripped him of the belt. But now, there’s an interim title as opposed to it just being an outright championship fight. But I’m absolutely in.”
Catch Daniel Cormier's comments below:
Can Aljamain Sterling defy the odds?
The popular opinion right now seems to be that Aljamain Sterling will not be able to get the best of Yan if the two ever fight again. However, right now, all he needs to focus on is ensuring that his neck fully heals so that he can get back in the octagon in a safe and manageable way.
Aljamain Sterling has been through his fair share of adversity in recent years and you can bet he'll be intent on proving the doubters wrong once again.
There are bound to be critics who will continue to mock him and claim that he's pulling out of the Yan rematch on purpose. However, as long as Sterling himself keeps his eyes on the prize, we should be seeing him back in an undisputed title fight at some point in the new year.
