Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan at UFC 273 faceoff (Credits: MMA Junkie)
Aljamain Sterling hints at a potential trilogy with Petr Yan in the future
Aljamain Sterling laid all doubts to rest at UFC 273, and emerged as the undisputed UFC bantamweight champion of the world. Even though the first round could’ve gone either way with many people scoring it for Petr Yan, Sterling’s dominance in the second and third rounds was enough for him to come out on top in the judges’ scorecards.
Before the fight, many had dismissed the Funkmaster’s chances of beating Yan, but Sterling would make them eat their words, much like many who thought it would be a cakewalk for Yan, with a career-defining performance at UFC 273 that cemented his claim as the true champion.
Although many including the likes of UFC President Dana White score the fight in favor of Yan, Sterling received tremendous support for his victory.
Their first fight, when Yan was the bantamweight champion at UFC 259 ended in controversial fashion after the Russian struck ‘Funk Master’ with an illegal knee. The American could not continue to fight, and became the bantamweight champion by mode of disqualification.
Both fighters are scheduled to fight on the upcoming UFC 280 fight card in Abu Dhabi later this month. While Sterling will face T.J. Dillashaw in the co-main event, Yan will face crowd favorite Sean O’Malley early on in the same night.
Sterling posted a video on social media when he ran into Yan at Abu Dhabi. The pair were surprisingly cordial with each other with Sterling even suggesting a potential trilogy fight in the future.
“Trilogy.”
MMA fans were delighted to see their beloved bantamweight fighters share a respectful moment with each other. @TimWheatonMMA wrote:
“Respect. Love to see it! Aljamain is such a great ambassador for MMA.“
Another fan wrote:
“Yous are 1 each we need a trilogy.”
However, @the_fed_23 brought to light that Sterling is already has two victories over Yan:
“I could be wrong but I think it says 2-0 Sterling.”
Another fan wrote:
“lowkey wholesome moment, liking it.”
Check out some of the best fan reactions below:
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