Last March, Aljamain Sterling challenged Petr Yan for the undisputed UFC bantamweight title, but after a strong start for “The Funkmaster,” Yan appeared to be taking over as the fight went on. Then, at the end of the fourth round, Yan illegally kneed the grounded Sterling in the head, causing the bout to be stopped and Yan to lose his bantamweight title via disqualification. Since then, the two have been at each other’s throats on social media, and things have only intensified this week.

Last week, Sterling and Yan were booked to rematch at UFC 272 in March, however, Tuesday for reasons still unknown, the UFC chose to move the rematch to the co-main event of UFC 273 in April. Sterling said the delay was due to Yan personal reasons, specifically that Yan is not vaccinated against COVID-19 which led to the UFC pushing the fight. But Yan whole-heartedly refutes this, which led to a heated exchange between the two on social media, wherein Yan said the real reason for the delay was that the UFC didn’t want Sterling to headline a pay-per-view event.

Sterling-Yan II was originally set to be the co-main event of UFC 272, with the featherweight trilogy fight between Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway headlining the card. However, when Holloway was forced out of the bout due to injury, the UFC was forced to bump Volkanovski’s title defense back a month and the Sterling-Yan rematch came with it. This would seemingly lend credence to Yan’s version of events but that didn’t matter much to Sterling, who dismissed Yan’s response and then suggested that the real reason the bout was pushed was Yan using banned substances and not wanting to get caught.

We may never know which side of the story is true but either way, the two men will finally be able to settle their feud on April 9 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

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TOP STORIES

Titles. Alexander Volkanovski vs. The Korean Zombie, Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan 2 set to headline UFC 273.

Finally. Jorge Masvidal vs. Colby Covington headlines UFC 272 in long-awaited grudge match.

Scoff. Michael Chandler scoffs at Tony Ferguson’s callout for short notice fight on his terms only.

Fire. Giga Chikadze blasts Alexander Volkanovski for hand-picking ‘easier’ fight against ‘Korean Zombie’.

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VIDEO STEW

UFC Vegas 46: Fighters You Should Know.

Record-Setting Moments in the UFC, 2021.

KSW Fights of the Year for 2021.

Kamaru Usman’s travels to Nigeria continued.

Eddie Alvarez vs. Michael Chandler.

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LISTEN UP

Fighter vs. Writer. Paul Felder picks the biggest threats to every UFC champion in 2022.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

USADA.

Henry Cejudo weighs in.

Call out.

Goals.

“Do you want to be a f*cking fighter?”

Israel Adesanya.

Derek Brunson.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Michel Pereira (26-11, 2 NC) vs. Andre Fialho (14-3, 1 NC); UFC 270, Jan. 22.

Colby Covington (16-3) vs. Jorge Masvidal (35-15); UFC 272, Mar. 5.

Kevin Holland (21-7) vs. Alex Oliveira (22-11-1); UFC 272, Mar. 5.

Alexander Volkanovski (23-1) vs. Chan Sung Jung (17-6); UFC 273, Apr. 9.

Aljamain Sterling (20-3) vs. Petr Yan (16-2); UFC 273, Apr. 9.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Shouts to Alexander Lee for holding down the fort yesterday and of course, DAWGS ON TOP.

Now, back to your regularly scheduled MMA programming. Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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