Aljamain Sterling, Merab Dvalishvili Poke Fun At Petr Yan In Hilarious Training Video
Ahead of his upcoming UFC 273 co-headliner this weekend in Jacksonville, Florida – bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling has taken time in a bid to explain the unified mixed martial arts ruleset to interim titleholder, Petr Yan – releasing a video during his camp following the pair’s disqualification finish back in March of last year.
Sterling, who co-headlines UFC 273 at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena – became the first champion in promotional history to win a title off the back of a disqualification, after he received an illegal knee in the fourth round of his title challenge against Yan, who dropped the title as a result.
The Uniondale native was then expected to rematch Yan in October of last year in Abu Dhabi, UAE – however, lingering issues and failure to land medical clearance following invasive neck surgery ruled him from a matchup with the Dudinka native on ‘Fight Island’.
Subsequently, Yan landed the interim bantamweight crown with a unanimous decision victory over short-notice replacement, Cory Sandhagen – setting up this weekend’s rematch and title unification bout with Sterling.
Aljamain Sterling boasts a 20-3 professional record ahead of his rematch with Petr Yan
In a bid to stoke the flames of his rematch with Yan on Saturday in the ‘Sunshine State’, Sterling – brandishing an ‘MMA Ruleset 4 Dummies’ booklet, Aljamain Sterling was joined in training camp by fellow bantamweight, Georgian force, Merab Dvalishvili – where the pair poke fun at Yan’s title loss.
During the video, Sterling explains the positioning of a fighter who is considered grounded, and therefore, illegal to knee strike – with two training partners than throwing punches, and then demonstrating chokes, before Dvalishvili rushed through and knees the downed opponent in the head, mimicking Yan’s strike against Sterling at UFC 259.
“Going over some Fight IQ with the team… .. ya know so that they never lose their belt,” Aljamain Sterling tweeted. “The best seller, MMA Rule Book For Dummies, by yours truly is available worldwide. Even in Russia and Thailand. #JustSaying Tag a friend or a (clown face emoji) who needs this book!”
Sterling’s March’s victory over Yan came as his sixth consecutively, following prior successes opposite Brett Johns, Cody Stamann, Jimmie Rivera, Pedro Munhoz, as well as a stunning rear-naked choke victory over common-foe, Sandhagen inside just a minute and a half.
