Aljamain Sterling claims title fight with Petr Yan is being pushed back
Aljamain Sterling is unhappy with the title fight timeline that is laid out in front of him. As the UFC bantamweight champion, Sterling will be defending his belt for the first time when he takes on former champion Petr Yan. However, this fight has been delayed again and again. Once again, Sterling is claiming that the set date of March 5 at UFC 272 will now be pushed back due to the vaccination status of Yan.
On my podcast, The Weekly Scraps, we talk about the reason why my title fight is being pushed back to April.
Mr. Potato-Head can’t duck 🦆 me forever!
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*Watch Full episode in my bio*https://t.co/r7HWJMibRc
•#TheWeeklyScraps #AndStill #UnfinishedBusiness #Podcast pic.twitter.com/zl8Czx3pck— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) January 11, 2022
“Yes, they’re talking about pushing my fight back to April,” Sterling said on his podcast. “Not because of me. This is what I was told: ‘Yan isn’t vaccinated so he can’t fight in March. I actually respect his gangster. If this is the real reason, I actually respect his stance. I respect it, but it doesn’t make any sense. And I’m making fun of it because it’s like, is he going to be vaccinated in April? I don’t think so. So what are we doing?
Sterling gained the bantamweight belt after his first fight with Yan ended with an illegal knee to a downed opponent. Sterling walked away with the strap and an injury that kept him out of the Octagon for the past 10 months. He required surgery on his neck and could not defend the title during that time. In his absence, Yan secured an interim title and a set rematch with Sterling.
“I just want to know when we are fighting,” Sterling said. “It’s about time we get to punch each other in the face. So, hopefully, we can figure this out sooner rather than later, unify these belts and figure out who is really the guy.”
Yan has not confirmed or denied the allegations that the fight will be pushed back until March. As of now, UFC 272 is slated to be taking place in Las Vegas. The last time yan fought was in Abu Dhabi. UFC 272 has already lost another title fight for that same evening when Max Holloway pulled out of his scheduled bout with Alexander Volkanovski.
