Sterling took control of the fight early on the ground and never looked back as he exorcised his demons
Thirteen months after their title match ended via disqualification, the bantamweight title rivalry between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan appears to be only just beginning.
Sterling (21-3) relied on his grappling early on and rallied Yan (16-3) late in the championship round to his 135-pound title on Saturday via split decision in the co-main event of UFC 273. held to the rescue. Jacksonville. Two judges scored 48–47 in Sterling's favour, while the third scored the same for interim titleholder Yan. CBS Sports scored 47-47.
The 32-year-old Sterling improved dramatically from his final outing, when he faded late at UFC 259, before hitting "The Funk Master" with an illegal knee to a down opponent of Yan in Round 4 at the same bantamweight. The title was given, for which his critics never gave him full credit. win.
The difference in the second fight was that Sterling, who was coming out of neck surgery, used Yan's aggression extensively against him and took the early lead through his relentless threat of submission after taking Yan's back.
What a round for @FunkmasterMMA 😳
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"I know I came here with a lot of skepticism. People rejected me because of my previous performance, but it was a big hiccup," Sterling said. "Yan is dangerous and brings it up every now and then and he kicked my ass in that fifth round but that's what it's about."
Yan, 29, appeared lucky to have a second round exit after Sterling, who was relentless in pursuit of a takedown, pulled Yan down and immediately grabbed his back. Although Yan pulled out of a choke attempt by rolling onto his stomach, Sterling was active enough with strikes from behind to score 10–8 rounds (although none of the three judges did).
Sterling had similar success in Round 3, although both the threat of submission and the effect of Sterling's ground strike were much less pronounced.
Yan was more engaged to open Round 4 and not only was he much better at keeping his back off the ground, his quick transition from trouble led to some scenes of big attacks from the top position. It was something else in the final round, only this time after taking Sterling's back, Yan was even more aggressive as he closed the round with knees from behind.
"I knew it was really close but I think I told him," Sterling said.