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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 06: Aljamain Sterling prepares to fight Petr Yan of Russia in their UFC bantamweight championship fight during the UFC 259 event at UFC APEX on March 06, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 06: Aljamain Sterling prepares to fight Petr Yan of Russia in their UFC bantamweight championship fight during the UFC 259 event at UFC APEX on March 06, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC)
To say that Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan do not like each other is an understatement. The two of them have a lot of bad blood. It might be a surprise if neither gets knocked out at UFC 273. One of Petr Yan’s biggest setbacks was losing the belt to Sterling via disqualification due to an illegal knee.
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Aljamain Sterling has, however, been the recipient of widespread criticism due to obtaining the belt with the way he did. The statistics during their fight showed that Petr Yan was winning by a mile until he landed that illegal knee.
Aljamain Sterling has been talking back at Petr Yan ahead of their bout at UFC 273. The American bantamweight champion had this to say about his bout against Yan in an interview for TMZ ahead of April 9.
Red in his ledger: Aljamain Sterling is ready to go toe-to-toe
When asked if he was completely sure that he could beat Petr Yan, Sterling stated, “Any doubt? Not at all. Any man that can bleed can be beat down and not just beat down, broken. And that’s what I plan to do to this guy at uh UFC 273.”
Sterling later added, “I just, I’m going to just, when they lock that door, he’s going to get ‘Will Smith’. I can tell you that. He’s going to get Will Smith, and after that, it’s going to be a lot worse than that what Will did to Chris rock.”
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The American champ has locked his sight on Petr Yan and vows to achieve the same result except in a different way altogether. He believes that the illegal knee resulting in a disqualification win for him was a one-off, and will not repeat again. He hopes to finish Petr Yan fair and square.
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MARCH 06: (R-L) Petr Yan of Russia delivers an illegal knee against Aljamain Sterling in their UFC bantamweight championship fight during the UFC 259 event at UFC APEX on March 06, 2021 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC)
A lot of things were said and done, leading up to the first fight. Following the DQ loss for Petr Yan, things only heated up furthermore and the two of the athletes kept going back and forth on Twitter for over a year.
The champ continues to talk a big game and is in top shape ahead of his fight at UFC 273.
Read More: Has Petr Yan Ever Lost a Fight in the UFC?
