Aljamain Sterling Reflects On His First Fight With Petr Yan: ‘I Dominated Him For 4 Rounds’

Aljamain Sterling took to social media on Sunday to reminisce about his first fight with Petr Yan one year on from the controversial bantamweight title fight that went down at UFC 259 in Abu Dhabi.

On March 6, 2021, Sterling became the first person in company history to claim a title by way of disqualification.

‘The Funk Master’ seemed to be on his way to a decisive defeat at the hands of Yan before the Russian fighter connected with an illegal knee.

Sterling was unable to continue fighting and was subsequently given the win and the bantamweight title by way of disqualification.

The 135lb duo will rematch at UFC 273 in April but before then Sterling couldn’t resist celebrating his one-year reign as the most controversial champion in UFC history.

“One year ago on this day, I forced the Cheatr Rat to take the easy way out, after I dominated him for 4 Rounds, and made him surrender his paper belt,” Sterling wrote on Instagram. “Now in 5 weeks I will grant him the rematch that he doesn’t deserve and make the score 2-0. – On April 9th you will have no where to run! Теперь я тебя поймал!”

Aljamain Sterling Has Been Healing Up From Neck Surgery

Post-fight, Sterling underwent surgery on a neck issue.

The surgery was so serious some people started to speculate that Sterling would be forced to retire from fighting.

TJ Dillashaw expressed his opinion that ‘The Funk Master’ was done competing in the sport.

Sterling was then booked to face off against Yan for the second time at UFC 267 on October 30 at the Etihad Arena.

However, he was still having lingering issues related to the surgery and withdrew from the fight.

Yan instead faced Cory Sandhagen for the interim bantamweight title and emerged victorious from one of the best fights 2021 had to offer.

How do you think Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan 2 will play out?