UFC 267 live blog: Petr Yan vs. Cory Sandhagen

This is the UFC 267 live blog for Petr Yan vs. Cory Sandhagen, the bantamweight co-main event for Saturday’s fight card at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

Yan, who is tied at No. 1 with current bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling in the MMA Fighting Global Rankings at 135 pounds and is No. 16 on the pound-for-pound list, was scheduled to take on Sterling in a rematch of their controversial meeting at UFC 259 after he was disqualified for an illegal knee. A longstanding neck injury forced Sterling to withdraw from the pay-per-view event, setting up an interim title bout against Sandhagen.

Sandhagen, the No. 4 ranked bantamweight, gets another chance to take a step toward the undisputed title after a high-profile meeting with ex-champ T.J. Dillashaw failed to go his way on the scorecards. Aside from a quick submission loss to Sterling and the points loss to Dillashaw, the Colorado native has been on fire in the octagon, stopping ex-champ Frankie Edgar and one-time title challenger Marlon Moraes in highlight-reel fashion.

Check out the UFC 267 live blog.