The undisputed UFC Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will fight the interim champion Petr Yan in the co-main event of UFC 273. Ahead of the match, Israel Adesanya has advice for the champion on how to beat Yan.
Sterling and Yan first clashed last year at the UFC 259. Petr Yan was cruising towards victory as he thoroughly outclassed Aljo in every aspect of the fight. Sterling could not seem to get going in the contest at all as Yan put on relentless pressure on him.
Just when it seemed Petr was all set for the victory, he got overzealous and landed a knee on Aljo’s head while he was down. It was deemed illegitimate as fighters can not use knee strikes while their opponent is on the mat. As a result, Sterling became the champion.
Aljamain Sterling is the NEW UFC Bantamweight Champion after this illegal knee disqualified Petr Yan #UFC259pic.twitter.com/lQ6ITgu9ip
— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) March 7, 2021
However, his performance in the match last year does not instil any confidence ahead of the rematch later this week. It reflects on the betting odds as according to a report Yan is a -425 favourite to win the fight. The champ on the other hand is a +315 underdog.
Israel Adesanya warns Aljamain Sterling about Petr Yan’s grappling ahead of UFC 273
In the latest video on his YouTube channel ‘FREESTYLEBENDER’, UFC middleweight champion Israel Adesanya spoke on what Aljamain Sterling needs to do in order to overcome the challenge on 273. He said,
“Aljamain, he should be wary of the grappling. As always you should be with Petr. But momentum, stop his momentum early on. Don’t let Petr get momentum for Aljamain. Because when Petr gets momentum, he is really hard to stop. Super hard to stop.”
He also had words of wisdom for the interim champion as well. ‘Momentum’ was the keyword in his advice for Yan. Stylebender added,
“And for Petr, just do what he did later on. But do it earlier. Whatever was working, start the momentum early. Because maybe he didn’t get it till later on the last time. So get the momentum going early on.”
UFC 273 is just days away and it is shaping up to be a very intriguing event. Aside from the co-main, the featherweight title will be on the line in the main event of the night as champ Alexander Volkanovski defends his belt against The Korean Zombie. It will also feature the much-hyped matchup between hot prospect Khamzat Chimaev and Gilbert Burns.