Petr Yan plans a “very violent finish” to defend his belt against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259

Petr Yan is confident he will remain the UFC’s bantamweight champion after Saturday night.

In the first of three title fights on the stacked pay-per-view card, Yan is set to defend his belt against Aljamain Sterling. It’s a very intriguing matchup as the Russian is a striker while Sterling should have a grappling advantage. However, Yan isn’t worried about Sterling’s grappling.

“I’m ready for every aspect of MMA. I can hurt him standing and on the ground too,” Yan said to BJPENN.com. “I’m not gonna shy away from the challenge. I’m training with many high-level grapplers, his grappling doesn’t bother me.”

For this camp, Petr Yan also trained at American Top Team due to COVID-19 restrictions in Russia and Thailand. Although it is a new camp, the champion has his usual training partners with him and has gotten some new looks which he knows will help him.

“Training is good, I have everything I need here (at American Top Team),” Yan said. “Most importantly my team is also here with me.”

In the lead-up to the fight, both Yan and Sterling have trash-talked one another. Both men are extremely confident they will get the job done. For the Russian, he says all the trash-talk on social media is fun for him but he’s ready to back up his words on Saturday night.

“Everything he said doesn’t bother me at all, I’m having fun going back-and-forth with him on social media,” Yan said. “But fight night I will be cold-blooded and calculated like always.”

Ultimately, Petr Yan is not only confident he will get his hand raised but do so by stoppage. He also expects it to be a violent finish to prove to the division he is a problem.

“My goal is always to finish the fight early and do the damage. I see me getting a very violent finish. It will play out very violently for him,” Yan concluded.

Do you think Petr Yan will finish Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259?