Aljamain Sterling Says He ‘Felt Like Sh*t’ Before Petr Yan Fight
UFC bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling gave an in-depth look at his overall wellbeing before his fight with Petr Yan at UFC 259.
In a tweet reply to a fan, Sterling said that he didn’t feel his best entering the title bout with Yan and that the former champion blew a chance to finish off a dominating performance against him.
“Felt like shit before the fight. I said this multiple times,” Sterling said in a tweet. “Yan blew it. That won’t happen again. Last time I felt like that I did a fasten sparring on a Saturday at 1 pm 3 weeks before the fight. Never again.”
Sterling was awarded the disqualification win against Yan after he suffered an illegal knee late in the fight. Following a few minutes of evaluation by the doctors and referee, the fight was called off and Sterling earned the belt in one of the most unusual title fights in recent memory.
Sterling has been the target of critics since he won the belt because of his repeated jabs at Yan and others after earning the belt via disqualification. Before the title fight with Yan, Sterling had been on a roll in the UFC having won seven of his previous eight fights, including a first-round submission win against top-contender Cory Sandhagen that earned him the title shot.
In addition to his back-and-forth on social media with Yan, Sterling has also had some heated moments online with former bantamweight and flyweight champion Henry Cejudo, who has recently said that he is open to ending his retirement and returning to the octagon.
Sterling and Yan are expected to fight in an immediate rematch of their UFC 259 bout later this year, although the exact timing of the fight is still unknown. Sterling has said that he wants to wait to recover from his injuries he sustained when he was struck by Yan’s illegal knee that ended their first encounter.
Cory Sandhagen and T.J. Dillashaw are scheduled to fight in a highly-anticipated bantamweight battle on July 24th, and the winner could emerge as next in line for the title shot after Sterling and Yan have their rematch. Also of note, Cody Garbrandt and Rob Font will compete in the main event of UFC Vegas 27 and the winner of that fight will add to the title conversation.
What do you think about Aljamain Sterling’s latest comments that he ‘felt like sh*t’ before the Petr Yan fight?
