Aljamain Sterling won the bantamweight championship at UFC 259 after his opponent Petr Yan was disqualified for landing an illegal knee. Though the Russian lost the fight, he feels he didn’t lose his belt.
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Sterling has received some criticism on social media from the fans, as many believe ‘Funkmaster’ milked the injury. In his defense, he would have been severely compromised had he decided to continue as the shot from Yan was brutal. However, the new champion has already started light training and is looking forward to a potential rematch.
“I think just give my body some time to heal my brain so that I don’t go in still having slight residual side effects from this fight going into the next one and then I get punched and then I got my eyes rolling in the back of my head and not being able to endure the shots that I was able to endure in that fourth round,” Sterling said to The Schmo.
Sterling also added that he wants to give himself enough time to recover from the damage. He took some big shots from Yan in the fourth round, but could endure them due to his superior conditioning. However, if he rushes back to the Octagon, that might cause his downfall.
When should Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling fight again?
Following the events of UFC 259, it is evident that the UFC and both fighters are heading in the way of a possible rematch as soon as possible. However, as Sterling needs to recover and begin training properly once more, it is likely the duo will clash again sometime in the summer. Although nothing has been hinted yet about the possible timeline.
The decision from Yan to land the illegal shot was quite inexplicable too. He was gaining control of the fight as Sterling was fading. A rematch has to happen to decide the better fighter and erase the fiasco that was their first fight at UFC 259.
What did you make of Aljamain Sterling’s comments about a potential rematch? Let us know.
