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Petr Yan Hilariously Calls for a Rematch Against Aljamain Sterling Under Pride FC Rules

Published 04/07/2021, 9:14 AM EDT

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Former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan took to social media and chimed in on a post that has gone viral. UFC President Dana White has come out and posted a rather cryptic post that sees him with two influential figures. White is standing besides RIZIN FF CEO Nobuyuki Sakakibara and all-time boxing great Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather.

White’s post has left the MMA community in a tizzy as speculations begun bursting through the seams. ‘No Mercy’ decided to inject himself into the aforementioned narrative by offering to rematch Aljamain Sterling under Pride FC rules. Chiefly, this implication stems from the fact that Sakakibara was once the face of the Japanese organization.

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Pride FC was infamous back in the day for allowing certain maneuvers, including soccer kicks to a downed opponent. Given the way Yan’s first fight went with Sterling, it seems as though the Russian has taken the incident in stride.

UFC 259 rewind: Petr Yan vs Aljamain Sterling 1

Yan has been looking to clinch a rematch with his rival in Sterling, who now holds his championship belt. Both men competed back at UFC 259, where Yan landed a flagrant knee to Sterling’s dome when he was grounded. Aljamain Sterling was unable to continue, and the fight was ruled as a DQ in his favor.

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This was the first time that an undisputed UFC title changed hands off the back of a disqualification. The aforementioned incident opened up the floodgates to conversations around the rules of MMA. From 12-6 elbows to the increasing number of eye pokes, the UFC has plenty to deal with in terms of regulations within MMA.

The aforementioned scrap was controversial for many reasons not limited to just the incident itself. Yan and his corner drew fire after claims were hurled that he intentionally looked to land a flagrant blow. Not to mention, Sterling was accused of faking the extent of his injury and later drew fire for celebrating his DQ title win.

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The incident left an unpleasant taste in everyone’s mouth, and both parties are keen to rematch. Petr Yan is confident that he has what it takes to reclaim his title, especially since he was beginning to pick up the pace. As for Sterling, he’ll need to come out with a statement performance to add legitimacy to his reign as the bantamweight champion.

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Written by:

Darryl Pinto

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Darryl Pinto is a senior MMA writer at EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his graduate degree in Mass Media (with a specialization in Journalism) out of Xavier’s College and has a year's experience in his current role. Darryl specializes in predictions, reporting, and covering UFC events live.
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