T.J. Dillashaw: ‘Aljamain Sterling Doesn’t Have That Fighting Spirit In Him’
T.J. Dillashaw thinks that Petr Yan will beat Aljamain Sterling with ease in their rematch in April.
Yan was close to defeating Sterling at UFC 259 until he threw an illegal knee strike in the fourth round which rendered Sterling unable to continue. This disqualification resulted in Yan losing his bantamweight title.
Since that mishap, Yan beat Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 for the interim title and is set to run it back with Sterling again at UFC 273 in April. While fans wait for the decisive battle between these two, other notable fighters have their own opinion on how they think the rematch will go down.
T.J. Dillashaw recently told ESPN that he doesn’t see Sterling being able to make the necessary adjustments to get the win in this one. (H/T mmajunkie.com)
“My money’s on Yan, just to see the way that fight went down and kind of see Aljamain just break and give up and really didn’t have much for him,” Dillashaw said. “I was kind of expecting Sterling to give him a lot more trouble in the grappling aspects and the takedown, and Yan just kind of shrugged him off like he had no strength. I don’t know if there’s much you can change with that, that mentality. and Yan’s a killer.”
Dillashaw continued to go at Sterling, saying that he doesn’t have the same killer instinct that he or Yan has.
“You see the way he fights, he stays real tight, stays clean, and he’s just got the mentality that he’s a fighter,” Dillashaw added on Yan. “You got those competitors, you got athletes, and then you got fighters. Guys like myself and guys like Yan are the full package – you do all of them – where I feel like Sterling’s more of maybe a competitor or an athlete. He doesn’t have that fighting spirit in him. He’s a little bit weak when it comes to that.”
Dillashaw, who is currently recovering from a knee injury, is targeting a return in the summer and wants the winner of Yan/Sterling.
