Aljamain Sterling vs Petr Yan 2 Set For UFC 267

UFC Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is getting ready to defend his title against Petr Yan at UFC 267. The UFC 267 is set to take place on Oct. 30 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The event is expected to air on ABC. A UFC Bantamweight Championship rematch between current champion Aljamain Sterling and the former champion Petr Yan is expected to be the co-main event at UFC 267. The duo previously met this year at UFC 259 where Sterling won the fight by disqualification due to an intentional illegal knee strike in the fourth round, becoming the first fighter to win a UFC title by disqualification. Now the pair are set to face again in of the most highly anticipated title rematches in the promotion’s history.

A UFC Light Heavyweight Championship bout between current champion Jan Blachowicz and former title challenger Glover Teixeira was supposed to take place at UFC 266. However, the fight was pushed back to late June and is expected to headline UFC 267. Former Rizin Light Heavyweight Champion Jiri Prochazka is going to serve as a backup and potential replacement for this fight.

Also featuring on the card will be the lightweight matchup between two of the top contenders. A lightweight bout between former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos and Islam Makhachev will take place on the card. The duo was previously scheduled to fight twice. First in October 2020 at UFC 254 and then two weeks later at UFC Fight Night: Felder vs. dos Anjos. But the actual fight never took place as both the fighters pulled out with their respective injuries.

Sterling VS Yan – Bantamweight Championship Rematch

Petr Yan is the former bantamweight champion. He won the belt in 2020 and lost the belt in an unfortunate incident in 2021. Former champion Henry Cejudo defended his title against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 and then announced his retirement.

Yan then faced former UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo for the vacant bantamweight championship. The duo fought on July 12, 2020, at UFC 251. Yan won the fight via technical knockout in the fifth round. The fight was a perfect example of how good Yan is as he dominated Aldo.
Petr Yan was set to make his first title defense against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 256. But later it was announced on November 22 that the bout was canceled from the UFC 256 card. The fight was set to happen at UFC 259.
Before the UFC 259 title fight, Sterling fought Cory Sandhagen in the no.1 contender fight and won the fight decisively. He submitted Cory in the very first round and secured himself a title fight.

The fight between Sterling and Yan at UFC 259 was very close and evenly matched. Though as the fight went on Petr Yan started to get dominant and was pressing the action. He took Sterling down a couple of times and was winning the striking exchanges too. But in the late 4th round due to a bit of wrong corner advice, he kneed Aljo who was on the ground. According to the rules that move was illegal and it cost Petr his title. Two judges scored the fight 29-28 for Yan and one scored 29-28 for Sterling before the illegal move happened. The rematch will be one of the most intriguing fights to watch.