Apr 8, 2022; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Aijamain Sterling screams during weigh ins for UFC 273 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Yeazell-USA TODAY Sports
In what was certainly a much different fight than the one from last year, Aljamain Sterling scores a narrow split decision over Petr Yan at UFC 273 to stay the undisputed UFC bantamweight champion
After winning the UFC bantamweight championship on a disqualification at UFC 259 in March 2021, Aljamin Sterling said it wasn’t the way he wanted to win it.
Now, after all the bad blood between him and Petr Yan, all the accusations of overplaying the mid-fight injury and not wanting to defend, all the hate from fans, Sterling managed to prove he is the undisputed UFC bantamweight champion of the world.
Sterling defeated Yan, the interim champion, in the co-main event of UFC 273.
Aljamain Sterling edges out Petr Yan to solidify himself as undisputed UFC bantamweight champion at UFC 273
The first round saw Yan be the more aggressive fighter, while Sterling fought on the back foot. Both men landed their fair share of strikes, but the round seemed to be more of each man looking to feel the other out.
The second round, however, was a much different story. Sterling managed to trip Yan up and get to his back. There, he dominated, nearly locking in a choke more than once and landing some significant ground-and-pound in what could have been a 10-8 round.
Yan fought off Sterling’s initial takedown attempts in the third, but Sterling hit him with a left hand that had him shook. Sterling then took down Yan 90 seconds into the round again, and once again he got to Yan’s back. Once again, while he didn’t score a submission, Sterling made easy work of the man he won the title on a DQ from.
Yan came after Sterling in the fourth round and appeared to stun him a bit before sweeping out one of his legs to get the fight to the ground. Sterling got up, but Yan got to his back and the two engaged in a grappling match on the fence. Not long after the break, Sterling got to Yan’s back again and nearly locked in an armbar, but Yan slipped off and got into top guard.
Sterling got Yan’s back once more about a minute into the final round but was unable to get Yan to the mat this time. Yan landed a jumping knee on Sterling before getting his back briefly. Sterling went for several takedowns in the final frame, but Yan stuffed them each time.
