The long-awaited bantamweight championship rematch between Aljamain
Sterling and Petr Yan won’t
happen at
UFC 267 as originally anticipated.
Sterling has withdrawn from the bout due to lingering issues with
his neck. “The Funk Master”
underwent surgery in April to repair a herniated disc in his
neck that has plagued him for years dating back to his collegiate
wrestling career.
MMAFighting.com was first to report Sterling’s exit from the
card.
Sterling captured bantamweight gold at UFC 259 on March 6, when Yan
landed an illegal knee that rendered the Serra-Longo Fight Team
member unable to continue. Yan, who had claimed the vacant belt
with a stoppage of Jose Aldo,
could remain on the UFC 267 card in an interim championship clash
against Cory
Sandhagen, according to a report from
MMAjunkie.com. Bout agreements have not yet been issued to
either Yan or Sandhagen, however.
Sterling is on a six-bout Octagon winning streak that also includes
triumphs over the likes of Sandhagen, Pedro
Munhoz and Jimmie
Rivera. The 32-year-old New Yorker is 12-3 over the course of
his UFC tenure.
Yan, meanwhile, had a 10-fight professional winning streak snapped
in the loss to Sterling. The 28-year-old Russian known as “No
Mercy” was victorious in his first seven UFC appearances, posting
notable triumphs against the likes of Aldo, Urijah
Faber, Rivera and John
Dodson.
UFC 267 takes place on Oct. 30 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi and is
headlined by a light heavyweight championship tilt pitting Jan
Blachowicz against Glover
Teixeira.