Petr Yan discusses his gameplan for upcoming fight with Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259

Petr Yan has discussed his planned strategy for his highly anticipated title fight against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259.

The two men are set to meet for the UFC Bantamweight Championship in March on a card that will feature three title fights, although you could argue that this is the most personal out of the three.

During a recent interview with MMA Fighting, Petr Yan wasn’t shy when talking about his plans for Sterling in this bout.

“Aldo is one of the toughest fighters in MMA,” Yan said, looking back on his most recent fight. “He punches hard, he has an unbreakable heart, he’s a very, very strong fighter. Sterling on the other hand, I don’t know what he’s hoping for when he fights me. Is he hoping just to work his jiu-jitsu on me? I don’t understand. I work and train with black belts so it’s not a problem for me.

“I’m training to break him and destroy him,” Yan continued. “I can’t see what he’s going to offer me and I’m determined to prove to everyone that I deserve to be champion. I’m gonna defend this belt for a long time.

“Right now, mentally, I’m so strong,” Yan continued. “I believe, and I have no doubt in my mind, that I’m going to beat him in every aspect and I believe that these thoughts are materializing. Whatever you think becomes real. From myself, I just need to be focused, cold-blooded and just go forward to get this thing done.”

In the same interview, Yan questioned why Sterling has gone so quiet on social media in the lead-up to the fight.

“He likes to talk a lot,” Yan told MMA Fighting. “He’s a big mouth and sometimes I just happen to answer his tweets. For me, he’s just another opponent, but I understand that he’s the challenger [and] he needs to attract attention that he needs so much. As I started training and preparing, recently he’s gone quiet. I don’t know what happened. I don’t know what happened to his big mouth.

“Aljamain also has his teammate Merab [Dvalishvili]—Georgian judoken sambo fighter,” Yan added. “My training partner Denis Lavrentyev is also a decorated judoka. If they have the guts, we can do it two on two: I’ll fight Sterling and my training partner Dennis can fight his guy Merab, and we’ll show them what the ‘No Mercy’ team is looking like. We’re gonna break them.

“Aljamain has already gone quiet. When he hears that, he’ll be gone for a while.”

Do you think Petr Yan will successfully defend his title against Aljamain Sterling?