Aljamain Sterling Explains Why He Pulled Out Of His Fight At UFC 267

UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling pulled out of his assigned fight at UFC 267. He was supposed to rematch the former champion, Petr Yan. But due to an injury which he has been dealing since a long time. He has now revealed that he is suffering from a spinal injury. He was supposed to rematch Petr Yan as their first fight ended due to disqualification. The pair fought at UFC 259 for the bantamweight championship. Petr Yan was the champ making his first title defense against Aljamain Sterling. The fight was going well for Yan until he hit Aljo with an illegal knee. The referee declared it illegal and Petr was disqualified. He lost the belt and the match to Sterling.

Aljamain Sterling Talks About His Injury

In an Instagram Post, Aljamain Sterling explains the injury he is facing and the recovery process. He also talked about his matchup with Petr Yan and what his fighting future will look like from here onwards.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CUVEb3prFMr/

“Let’s clear the air today. I am NOT injured for my real fans, family, and friends that are asking/wondering. To the haters, trying to take away my attention from my teammate, @merab.dvalishvili, to talk about myself and my situation isn’t what I wanted to do.”

“Merab looked amazing on Saturday night and had a wicked performance! My situation is complicated. It’s the neck that we’re talking about! This is the BEST I’ve ever felt, waking up in the morning and being able to live life pain-free from nerve issues that’s I’ve had for 10+ years now.”

“As always, I like to share the truth and be transparent with my fan base that actually give a shit about fighters health. Training has been going well but I’ve been struggling to get my body to push pass 2 RDs in sparring sessions. The fatigue that sets in and the cramping still lingers. Which my surgeon said is due to the nerves still recovering from the long-term trauma, and surgery I just had. Nothing I can do about that, other than show up in another shell of myself and risk wasting the surgery and maybe getting severely hurt!!”

Aljo Talks About His Fight With Petr Yan

“I originally wanted to fight in December but the plans were pushed up earlier. Unfortunately, my body isn’t agreeing with me and I asked for an extension and asked for Petr Yan to wait, so that I will be the first man in the UFC to beat his ass.”

“I flew in @adrianyanez93 to help with training looks. I want to see how this week goes and see if overtraining was the real issue for all the fatigue. Since I was playing physical “catch-up” for fighting much sooner than expected. I will discuss this more on my podcast today @theweeklyscraps. But here’s a quick version of what I’m dealing with. Thankfully the @UFC team understands how serious spine surgery can be. And are allowing me the extra time to get my body right so that there are NO EXCUSES when I fight again.”