Aljamain
Sterling will have neck surgery this week to repair on issue
that has plagued him for approximately 10 years.
The UFC bantamweight champion told
ESPN that he has been diagnosed with a herniated disc and that
doctors will operate on his C6-C7 vertebrae on Thursday. Sterling
hopes to return from the procedure to defend the belt in a rematch
with Petr
Yan later this year.
“They told me I will heal in three months, and can start doing
cardio to get myself ready,” Sterling said. “They wouldn’t want to
see me take a fight until they see everything has fused in my neck
correctly. Five months would be ideal, if I heal up really quick.
I’m excited. The faster I heal up, the faster I can fight. We’ll
find out in the next three months, and get something on
schedule.”
Sterling won the bantamweight crown at UFC 259 on March 6, when Yan
landed an illegal knee in the fourth round, leaving “The Funk
Master” unable to continue. After the result, UFC president Dana
White said the promotion would try to schedule a rematch as soon as
possible.
Sterling told ESPN that he would ideally be ready to face Yan again
by October or November. The neck surgery had been postponed for
years, but the Serra-Longo fight Team member revealed that the
fight with Yan and the foul that ended it was the “final straw on
the camel’s back” regarding the procedure.
Regardless of the timetable, Sterling does not believe its
necessary for the UFC to create an interim bantamweight title in
his absence.
“I can’t see a reason for an interim title fight when Yan won the
belt in July [2020], was scheduled to fight me in December, and
then had to push it to March,” Sterling said. “He had enough time
to heal from whatever fake injury he had. If he got that luxury, I
should have the luxury of addressing an injury I’ve put off for
years. Why would they rush an interim title for the sake of
it?”