
As per the report, Petr Yan has pulled out of his fight against Aljamain Sterling due to personal issues. Yan’s last fight was against Jose Aldo, where he won the vacant bantamweight champion. As of this moment, Sterling is looking for a chance to fight for the interim title.
Sterling has been long overdue for a title shot. He recently fought and beat Cory Sandhagen with ease which many thought to be the title fight. Sterling and Sandhagen were to highest-ranked fighters during that time but due to Aldo being promised a title shot by Cejudo, the Yan-Aldo fight was for the vacant title match.
Sterling’s last loss was when he suffered a brutal knee knockout to Marlon Moraes. He was knocked out unconscious but has recovered from the loss. Sterling is now on a 5 fight win streak that dominating as well. If Sterling is looking for an interim fight, no opponent makes sense in fighting him since he cleared out the division.
The only opponent left is Marlon Moraes who he has a loss to but just lost to Cory Sandhagen. The only solution would be to wait it out, it is such a shame for Sterling since he is more than ready but sometimes fighters pull out, it is just the way of things.
The real scheduled main event was supposed to be Amanda Nunes vs Megan Anderson but also pulled out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury. So, Yan vs Sterling was upgraded to main-event and now has been canceled again due to personal issues.
It does not make sense in my view that Nunes vs Anderson is the PPV main event. Even though Nunes is the WOMEN’s MMA GOAT, she does not attract casual viewers. She owns 3 of the top 5 lowest PPV fights in UFC so it would have made sense to make Yan vs Sterling the main event had both competed.
Sterling was furious with UFC at first because of all the contenders that are in the division he is the clear title contender. No other fighter deserves it since he is on the longest win streak and fighting the top 5 fighters in the division but Dana White indicated that Sterling is not yet the official contender. Luckily for Sterling, Cory Sandhagen beat Marlon Moraes which made it even more impressive for Sterling’s case for the title shot.
Yan already wanted Sterling long before the announcement. He agrees that Sterling is the most deserving of the title shot but the UFC just didn’t announce since according to them there is no clear number 1 title contender. Luckily for Sterling, all the others who have a small case lost in their fight.
The PPV fight card may have been canceled had Figueiredo vs Moreno not been booked. Figueiredo who just defended his title yesterday will fight again in UFC 256. Moreno who also fought in the preliminary of UFC 255 will be his opponent.
Prior to the build-up of UFC 255, Figueiredo had said that Perez does not deserve the title shot and is not impressed with the matchmaking. He said that Moreno is more deserving of the title shot.
Fortunately, both fighters won their fight with no damage or injuries that would need recovery time. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the fight and Dana White even said during the press conference that they are working on making the fight.