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Former UFC Bantamweight Champion T.J. Dillashaw believes Petr Yan will beat Aljamain Sterling in a rematch.
As a reminder, Yan and Sterling had a duel in Las Vegas at UFC 259. The fight was stopped in the fourth round after Yan inflicted an illegal knee blow to the head. As the American was unable to continue the fight, Petr was disqualified and lost his belt.
“Petr Yan won this fight. And if you return to the fight for a minute, you can see that Sterling was dragging on everything, slowing down the fight. Something needs to be changed in the rules. You cannot sit on your knees to be held by the back of your head, and It is clear that Sterling was definitely on the ground, but at that moment when he tore off his hands, probably Petr Yan did not understand the rules and everything happened by accident. Petr was winning the fight, he wanted to finish it brightly and shot from his knee.
As for their rematch … I lean towards Petr Yan. Sterling started the fight briskly, but he did not threaten him in any way. All he did was try to knock him down and Yan defended himself well and got back on his feet. I’m not saying Sterling looked bad. He started the fight aggressively, and it all looked impressive, but there was no real threat behind it. So I think Yan will be even more confident in the second fight. “ – added T.J. Dillashaw.