The UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has revealed that the day he fought Petr Yan and won the title, he was unwell — Fightful has you covered on this story as well as all of the other news in the world of combat sports.
Aljamain Sterling claims he was unwell the day he fought Petr Yan
At UFC 259, Aljamain Sterling won the UFC bantamweight championship in a very controversial way as his opponent Petr Yan landed an illegal knee on Sterling and was disqualified.
Despite the knee from Yan clearly landing on Sterling, many MMA fans and fighters believed that Sterling was overexaggerating to try and get Yan disqualified as he was getting dominated all through the fight until the point of the illegal knee.
However, the reason behind Sterling's lackluster performance against Yan may have just been revealed.
Sterling has revealed that on the day of his fight against Yan at UFC 259 he "felt like shit."
See the full tweet which Sterling posted below.
Felt like shit before the fight. I said this multiple times. Yan blew it. That won’t happen again. Last time I felt like that I did a fasten sparring on a Saturday at 1pm 3 weeks before the fight. Never again. https://t.co/QZkqnnaDVh
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) May 19, 2021
Sterling also added in the tweet, "Yan blew it. That won't happen again."
So although Sterling had an off night against Yan in the first fight, it is clear that Sterling believes that he will get the better of Yan in the second fight and retain his bantamweight title.
Tatiana Suarez announces her UFC return and her move up in weight
Tatiana Suarez was on a tear in the UFC women's strawweight division until she suffered a neck injury all the way back in 2019.
As a result of her being inactive and not fighting in two years, Suarez was recently completely removed from the UFC rankings.
Prior to her injuries, she racked up impressive wins over fellow strawweights such as Carla Esparza and Nina Nunes.
During an interview with ESPN, Suarez revealed that she will be returning to the Octagon later this year but not at her previous weight class, she will be moving up a division to flyweight where Valentina Shevchenko is currently dominating.
During the interview, Suarez said, "maybe if I’m not cutting too much weight at all, I’ll be a little more stronger and explosive (at 125lbs)."
Suarez also revealed that she feels like she matches up well against the division's champion Shevchenko.
She said, "I do think I have a good skill set in terms of my wrestling [that] can give her trouble."
Do you think that Suarez could cause Shevchenko some problems if they were to fight?
Andre Muniz opens up on the conversation he had with Jacare Souza backstage at UFC 262
At UFC 262, one of the biggest shocks on the card was when Andre Muniz defeated MMA legend Jacare Souza via an armbar.
This was shocking as Souza is well known for his legendary jiu-jitsu and he is a former jiu-jitsu world champion.
The fight was stopped when the referee noticed that Souza's arm had snapped whilst in the hold.
Souza had successful surgery on his arm after the fight.
Muniz has given the details of what his conversation with Souza was like post-fight.
Muniz said "We talked backstage, I apologized to him for the situation. He said it was part of the game, that there was no problem, life goes on. I was very sorry, I wished myself well, that I could stay with the family. Yesterday (Sunday) he texted me on Instagram, he said he was fine and would get surgery. I wished for a speedy recovery to get back as soon as possible. My admiration for him continues in the same way, regardless of the result. I got it right, he got it wrong, but nothing will erase what he did for our sport."
Beneil Dariush believes that he has "a little case" to fight Charles Oliveira next
In the co-main event of UFC 262, Beneil Dariush secured a dominant unanimous decision win over the former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson.
Dariush's win meant he is now on a seven-fight win streak and he is now the number three ranked lightweight contender.
Following on from his win over Ferguson, Dariush now believes that he has "a little case" to be next in line to fight Charles Oliveira for the lightweight title.
In an interview with MMA Junkie Dariush said "I think I (have) a little case for the title. In business numbers, that’s the fight that’s going to get the title shot. But here’s the thing: I’m the only guy with an actual streak in that division. That’s one thing. I have the longest streak in the top three right now. The other thing is these guys don’t get their contracts figured out that quickly. These guys, they’ll fight – I’ve seen contracts fall apart with Dustin and Conor. Things have not worked out for them. So, I’m sitting here and I’m ready to go.”
Do you agree with Dariush's comments?
Dan Hardy reveals that he turned down fights against both Joe Lauzon and Jim Miller
For the last few years, Dan Hardy has been campaigning hard for a return fight in the UFC.
However, after Hardy was released from the promotion last week, that return fight in the UFC is now essentially dead in the water.
Although Hardy was constantly asking the UFC for fights, the two fights he was offered by the UFC he admittedly turned down.
Hardy was offered fights against both Jim Miller and Joe Lauzon who are both veterans in the UFC's lightweight division.
In an interview with MMAFighting, Hardy revealed that he turned down the fights because he didn't want to punch either man in the head.
Hardy said "If I’m only fighting one or two more fights, I want to want to fight the guy. There a lot of guys on the roster, and I literally just don’t want to punch Joe Lauzon in the face. It’s as simple as that. As a fighter and a contractor, I should have some choice in that, I feel, especially at this point in my career, where you know for sure I’m not contending for a belt, and I’ve said that all the way through. I don’t want to be fighting people that are still in the mix because I respect the mix enough to know that I’m not in it. But either let me fight someone else that’s not in the mix, or let me go.”
What are your opinions on Hardy's comments?
Yan Xiaonan criticizes Rose Namajunas for bringing politics into the build-up with her fight against Weili Zhang
In the build-up to Weili Zhang's second title defense against Rose Namajunas at UFC 261, one hot topic heading into the fight was that Namajunas was regularly bringing up reasons related to politics as to why she wanted to defeat Zhang.
It is fair to say that Yan Xiaonan who is Zhang's fellow countrywoman was not impressed with Namajunas making the build-up to the fight political.
Speaking to South China Morning Post, Xiaonan said "I don’t like that, I don’t think she should bring politics into sport. Everybody can have her or his own thoughts, she can say what she wants but she can not change anything.”
Do you agree with Xiaonan's comments?
Austin Vanderford opens up on what it was like watching his wife Paige VanZant fight in BKFC
Bellator middleweight contender Austin Vanderford has opened up on what it was like watching his wife Paige VanZant fight in bare-knuckle boxing.
Speaking on What The Heck, Vanderford said "It honestly felt like an MMA fight. Of course, there’s a little more at stake with the damage and it being a new venture and whatnot. I was extremely proud, especially her last round I thought she really turned it on and it kind of showed what she can go forward and do in the fights to come.”
Vanderford also said "Of course we were both bummed out [about the loss],” Vanderford said. “It felt like it was a fight she could win but going into it, Britain had the experience over her—I think it was her fourth or fifth fight—and it just was a big eye-opener. Even just the round lengths being so short, and just knowing how much we could put on the gas pedal from the opening minutes to the rest of the fight. But it was kind of hard to watch, for sure.”
Do you think that VanZant can be successful in BKFC?
Felicia Spencer speaks about her upcoming fight against Noma Dumont and what the future holds for her
Felicia Spencer will return to the Octagon this upcoming weekend in her first fight back since she lost to Amanda Nunes.
She will face Noma Dumont and Spencer believes that she will finish Dumont.
Spencer said "Either way, I’m comfortable anywhere, I don’t want to rush anything. I’m going to be comfortable and pick my shots and feel it out. I’m really just to be in front of her and hopefully finish her in the first round, that is the goal, and a lot of times I end up on the ground and take her out from there. All my UFC wins have also been first-round finish so it would be nice to keep that streak going.”
Spencer also revealed that despite the uncertainty around the future of the UFC women's featherweight division she is not worried about what is next.
She said "I was a little surprised in the beginning when I got signed and they didn’t sign more, especially after that card in Norfolk where I fought Zarah and Megan fought Norma, it was a big thing. At this point, I’m not super surprised, I’m not sure what their game plan is. I would imagine they would sign a few more people, even if the goal is to just have Amanda defend her belt until she’s done. There should be a few more people to round-robin with to get a clear picture of who deserves it and get some competitive experience.”
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