A. Sterling in a press conference after the UFC 273 (Photo: Reproduction/Youtube)
Last Saturday (9), aljamain sterling defended, for the first time, the belt in the bantamweight division (up to 61,2kg.) in the second chapter of the rivalry against Petr yan, UFC 273. Despite the victory, the North American contested the judges' decision for not scoring '10-8' in the second round.
See too
“I won with a clear decision and somehow people are trying to say that this man (Petr yan) beat me. It is fascinating. I was robbed of two '10-8's – at worst, a 10-8 round. Even if someone was crazy enough to try and score that first round for Yan, at best the fight is a draw for him. That's his best hope. Like, the guy didn't win the fight”, said the champion in an interview with 'MMA Junkie'.
Sterling won the fight on split points and, eventually, could have been harmed by the marking. He, however, feels that he managed to present a level of performance that would benefit him from his extensive dominance over Yan.
“Even if they wanted to give him the first round. There was no way, in my mind, that all these judges were going to give him the first round. I had to have won the first round on one of these guys' scorecards. I outplayed this guy the entire first round. I danced on top of him with my feet, and he couldn't find me”, he concluded.
The rematch between Sterling and Yan has been surrounded by controversy since its scheduling. In the first duel, in March 2021, the North American was declared the winner after the Russian was disqualified for an illegal knee. The former champion accused the 'Funk Master' of exaggerating and lying when saying that he was unable to return to the octagon.
In the second duel, which took place on the 9th, Sterling and Yan fought a balanced dispute, which was decided in detail. At the end of 15 minutes, the North American unified the bantamweight belt by emerging victorious in a tight split decision from the judges.
You need login To comment.