In a title fight between an American and a Russian on Sunday (AEST) in Jacksonville, Florida, it sure seems like it’ll be the Russian who has the crowd on his side.
Why? It’s complicated.
Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan don’t like each other.
And for good reason.
Watch UFC 273: Volkanovski vs The Korean Zombie LIVE on Main Event available on Kayo & Foxtel, Sunday 10th April from 12pm AEST. ORDER NOW >
LIVE COVERAGE: FOLLOW UFC 273 LIVE
Yan blames the Sterling for stealing what he believes is rightly his, while Sterling, at least nowadays, is only too happy to remind Yan why he lost it all in the first place.
It was in 2021 at UFC 259 where Yan, then unified bantamweight champion, put his belt on the line against Sterling in a 135-pound match-up a while in the making.
And things were mostly going to plan for the champ.
Until they weren’t.
Yan, in a moment of madness, landed a knee while Sterling was down. And when his rival stayed down and ultimately couldn’t continue, Yan lost his belt via disqualification.
Sterling was awarded the belt by UFC boss Dana White, only to throw it on the ground, breaking down as the enormity of the situation hit home: he’d just won the world title, but not in the way any fighter dreams.
In the aftermath, Yan, and many in the MMA community, questioned Sterling’s champion status, while others had little sympathy for the Russian, who simply got it wrong and broke the rules.
Sterling has not fought since then; undergoing surgery on a neck injury. Meanwhile, Yan got back in the cage to win the interim belt after a convincing victory over Cory Sandhagen.
All the while, Sterling became more comfortable celebrating his belt as the two 135-pounders traded barbs wherever possible, before the rematch was set.
So, here we are. Back with a title fight to figure out who the best bantamweight really is.
Yan, in Jacksonville, has somewhat surprisingly had the support of the crowd, while Sterling has really leaned into the heel role, being booed by MMA fans in Jacksonville.
At the press conference on Thursday, Sterling arrived with a Jacksonville Jaguars helmet, taking a knee and pretending to defend himself, as well as bringing Yan a ‘rule book for dummies’.
Meanwhile Yan, more of a no-nonsense type of guy, has kept it simple throughout fight week.
“If we see his team, we’ll kill [all his] team,” Yan told reporters at the UFC 273 media day.
“Right now, not Saturday.”
At the press conference it was more of the same from Yan, who labelled Sterling a “clown”, before the two had to be pulled apart after trying to create a face-off that almost certainly would have turned ugly.
On Sunday, the score will finally be settled.
The narrative, at least from the side of Yan and his supporters, is that the Russian is simply on another level; a fact that will be hammered home – this time hopefully with a legal strike.
For Sterling, this is his chance to claim true champion status, despite having held the belt for over a year.
Who will be proven right?
Watch UFC 273: Volkanovski vs The Korean Zombie LIVE on Main Event available on Kayo & Foxtel, Sunday 10th April from 12pm AEST. ORDER NOW >
