The saga of Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan’s rivalry continues. The fighters first clashed at UFC 259 for the title. Sterling won the bantamweight title after Yan got disqualified for throwing an illegal knee. Neither the fans nor the fighters were happy with how the fight panned out. 

Hence, many were sure that a rematch between them would take place soon. However, Sterling had to undergo neck surgery, and hence, a rematch was not possible. Yan thus fought Cory Sandhagen for the interim title and won it. 

Many felt that Sterling had been dodging a fight against Yan. During their bout, Yan seemed to be doing quite well. Now, a unification bout between Sterling and Petr Yan is inevitable. This fight will ultimately decide who the true bantamweight champion is.

ESPN ranking committee ranks Peter Yan instead of Aljamain Sterling

The latest ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings were updated and consisted of a list of 10 fighters. Sterling seemed annoyed to find Yan’s name mentioned at the seventh position. Unfortunately, Sterling was not mentioned in it. 

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He wrote on Twitter, “Lamoo him and TJ take 25min to win over an opponent I beat in 88 seconds. Somehow the ‘temporary champ’ is ranked 7th.”

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The rankings were done by journalists Jeff Wagenheim, Mike Coppinger, Brett Okamoto, Marc Raimondi and Carlos Contreras Legaspi. In the same tweet, Sterling wrote, “The ranking committee is a joke!” 

It is possible that because of Sterling’s inactivity, he was left off the list. He last fought Yan at UFC 259 in March 2021. Whereas Yan looked terrific in his recent fight against Sandhagen at UFC 267, and this seems to have secured his spot on the list. 

‘Funkmaster’ and Yan are expected to fight for the bantamweight unification bout in 2022. Till then, fans can satisfy their fight cravings by tuning into their online wars on Twitter.

What do you think about the ESPN pound-for-pound rankings? Do you think the rankings were fair? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below. 

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