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UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has expressed his disdain for No.1 contender Petr Yan. Sterling claims Yan has wrongfully brought his fiance into their long-running title saga.
In the latest episode of The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, Sterling talked about how determined he was to torment the Russian mixed martial artist inside the Octagon. Sterling said:
"Yan can say whatever he wants. He posted some shit with me and my fiance. I don't know if he was trying to be funny. I'm out with my lady, do I post pictures with you and your lady/kids to say you pulled out of a fight? I think the guy is a piece of s**t. I'm gonna fight him but there's gonna be a point in the fight that I'm just gonna slap the f**k out of him."
Aljamain Sterling also pointed out that Petr Yan had pulled out due to visa issues ahead of the duo's first fight. The 'Funk Master' went on to stress that his health was of his utmost importance right now and added:
"People keep forgetting that Yan pulled out of our first fight. He said he had his visas taken care of. He pulled out of the fight with no injury. So for me to pull out for not getting medical clearance, I think there's a pretty good logical reason. I'm not looking to be the first person to win a belt by DQ and the first person to be paralyzed in the cage."
Watch Aljamain Sterling and a few other MMA stars in conversation with Ariel Helwani below:
Sterling defeated Yan by disqualification at UFC 259 to claim the bantamweight belt. He has since undergone neck surgery and still hasn't been cleared by his doctors to compete inside the Octagon.
As a result, his rematch against Petr Yan won't happen as scheduled at UFC 267 on October 30.
Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen will fight for the interim bantamweight championship at UFC 267 now
The UFC has now scheduled an interim bantamweight championship bout featuring Yan and No. 3-ranked contender Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi on October 30.
Aljamain Sterling will face the winner of that encounter in a unification clash sometime in the future.
Sandhagen is coming off a loss to former two-time bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw in July this year. Meanwhile, No. 2- ranked contender Dillashaw is currently out of action due to a knee injury he suffered at UFC Vegas 32.
