UFC 273's Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan brings plenty of heat

For the past year, Aljamain Sterling has heard it all, and most all of it has been a few steps shy of what’s considered acceptable in polite conversation.

To paraphrase, and to do so using generally accepted societal norms rather than what people actually typed in social media: Faker. Bad actor. Paper champion.

“I know who I am,” the Uniondale-raised Sterling told Newsday. “People can say whatever they want to say. The resume speaks for itself.”

And why all the vitriol?

Because late in the fourth round — a round he was losing — Sterling was hit with an illegal knee by Petr Yan, who then was disqualified and saw his bantamweight title awarded to Sterling at UFC 259 in March 2021. Of the 94 different people to win a UFC title in the company’s 28-plus years, a group that includes interim champions, Sterling was the first to become champion via disqualification.

The bitter banter between the bantamweights and their fan bases has continued ever since. It hasn’t been kind. But on Saturday, inside the octagon at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, in the co-main event of UFC 273, the talking stops and the backing up of that talk starts as Sterling and Yan, after two previous delays, will fight again.

“I say the only emotion for me is really being back into competition,” Sterling said. “So I'm super excited about that. And I think that's the most emotional part. And the other emotional part is probably just finally being able to move past this chapter in my life.”

The Russian-born Yan agreed with that sentiment.

“He’s kind of stopping my career,” Yan told Newsday through his interpreter, Sayat Abdrakhmanov. “And I can't wait to put my hands on him to beat him up, and finally put an end to this chapter. For the second time, we have to prove that this person doesn't deserve to be a champion.”

Whether or not the Sterling-Yan rivalry actually ends Saturday night will be dictated by what, if anything, transpires during fight week and how the fight plays out in the cage. This second bout brings plenty of heat, and a "trilogy" fight usually works as a quality marketing device.

In their first bout, Sterling (20-3) put on an aggressive pace in the first round but slowed as the fight went on.

“It did more than slow,” Sterling said. “That thing pretty much almost came to a screeching halt.”

Sterling won the first round on one judge’s card, with Yan earning the nod from the other two judges on the strength of a brief knockdown. Sterling won round two on all cards and Yan took round three. Yan was ahead in round four as well until he illegally kneed Sterling in the head while he was considered a downed opponent.

Sterling attributed the drop-off in pace to his nutrition on fight day. He said ate two pancakes and two eggs for breakfast that day. And nothing else.

“It's comical when I say it out loud because it sounds ridiculous,” Sterling said.

Sterling, who trains under Ray Longo and Matt Serra, said he watched their first fight over and over, and each time he draws the same conclusion.

“I think if you analyze my output, you analyze my other fights, you see that they're all relatively the same,” Sterling said. “But for some reason that night, I wasn't able to do it. And it's based on what I said about my nutrition the day of the fight. A couple of nights from now we get to see if I'm all talk or I can really back up all the things I've been saying for this entire year."

Yan (16-2) said he’s digesting the nutritional angle less as an explanation and more as another word that starts with the letter E.

“He's just looking for excuses. It's just his weak mentality, trying to find an excuse,” Yan said. “He doesn't have the mentality of the warrior. I will make sure to remind him to eat well on fight day.”

Sterling and Yan will cross paths at scheduled events this week — Thursday evening’s UFC 273 press conference and Friday afternoon’s ceremonial weigh-ins.  Sterling said he’s not sure what will happen when they do stand face to face for the first time since their fight last year.

“I'm not gonna Masvidal him, I'm not gonna Will Smith him,” Sterling said.

Yan, who won the interim title with a unanimous decision over Cory Sandhagen last October, played up the intrigue of when these two men get close.

“To be honest, I was envisioning this in two different ways. But now I understand that I have to finish the business in the octagon, not during the staredowns,” Yan said. “But it's also part of the show. So maybe you'll see some surprises."

By Mark La Monica

mark.lamonica@newsday.comLaMonicaMark

Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.