Aljamain Sterling thinks Petr Yan was overrated by the UFC and fans.
Sterling (23-3 MMA, 15-3 UFC) beat Yan by disqualification to become bantamweight champion at UFC 259 and solidified his win in their rematch at UFC 273, at which he had almost two rounds of control time en route to a split decision win.
Prior to his first loss to Sterling, Yan was on a 10-fight winning streak – including knockouts of Urijah Faber and Jose Aldo. But Yan (16-5 MMA, 8-4 UFC) now finds himself on a three-fight skid, which isn’t entirely surprising to Sterling.
“I felt like the UFC had him as this f*cking golden goose that was going to make all these eggs for them,” Sterling told Paul on BS w/ Jake Paul. “I was like, ‘Dude, he’s not as good as you guys think.’ This is coming from someone who’s in the sport – (who) breaks down and analyzes the fight. I do my podcast. I break down these fights weekly. Stylistically, when I’m looking at him and seeing what he’s doing to the guys he’s fighting, he’s fighting guys that are stationary, standing right in front of him.
“He takes his time. He lets them pick their shots and then he picks his shots, and he lands the better shots. If you get a guy who is actually trying to wrestle him, it’s a different fight, man. You saw the fight with Merab (Dvalishvili). You saw the fight with myself – even the Sean (O’Malley) fight. You get a guy with good footwork, it’s not the same fight, man. Things like that bother me.”
Sterling will look to notch his fourth title defense when he takes on O’Malley (16-1 MMA, 8-1 UFC) in the UFC 292 headliner Aug. 19 at TD Garden in Boston.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 292.
