After an eleventh-hour postponement of the UFC 256 bantamweight title fight between champion Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling, Petr Yan provides reassurances that the fight will still happen soon.
UFC 256 has had its share of setbacks, with three title fights falling through. First, Kamaru Usman vs. Gilbert Burns was postponed followed by Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson, and now the third postponement was revealed Sunday when Petr Yan had to withdraw from the bout. Speaking to RT Sport, Petr Yan revealed why he and his team made the tough decision:
“There were different problems, with the flight, with the visa, during training I flew away for a visa deadline, lots of factors,” Yan said.
Despite the major hiccup, there is no need to fret, as the champion assures that the fight is still on and will still take place in the near future.
“Everything’s in force for the fight. It’s going to be postponed for about a month and a half, but everything’s in order,” Yan said. “We decided with the team to move everything to next year, perhaps the card will be more suitable…Everything is good, training continues.”
When his fight against Aljamain Sterling does eventually happen, it will be his very first time defending the bantamweight championship. The new champion wants to ensure that his title reign does not come to a halt before getting off the ground due to any oversights that would lead to regret and excuses.
“In the past, I could fly out to battle without thinking about anything, I could take risks,” he said. “Now I need to do everything right, so that afterwards there won’t be any, ‘this wasn’t right, that wasn’t right.’”
Petr Yan won the vacant bantamweight championship by defeating Jose Aldo at UFC 238 in July. Yan has been flawless since entering the UFC in 2018, with a current record of 7-0. His fight with Aljamain Sterling will feature two streaking fighters in their physical primes determining who is the best bantamweight in the world. Hopefully, the obstacles between these men will collapse and we’ll get the answers we seek within the next couple of months.
Who do you think is most likely to win between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling when the fight takes place?
