Aljamain Sterling calls for vacant UFC bantamweight title fight against Petr Yan

With Henry Cejudo abruptly retiring from MMA, UFC bantamweight contender Aljamain Sterling is calling for a vacant title fight against Petr Yan.

Cejudo shocked the MMA community when he announced after this TKO win over Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 that he would be vacating the belt and retiring from the sport. Though the title being vacated is not official yet and White has held the door open to Cejudo potentially changing his mind, if he does indeed give his belt up then we would need a new fight to determine who the best in the world at 135lbs is.

White mentioned that if Cejudo indeed vacates the belt as he said he would do, that Yan would be next in line to fight for the belt. On Tuesday, Sterling threw his name into the mix, posting on his Twitter that he wants to fight Yan for the vacant title.

The fans all wanted to see the fight and now there’s a vacant title on the line! I’m #2 and Yan is #3. THIS IS THE FIGHT FOR THE FANS! Uncle Dana, I think it’s bout time Jamaica got its first UFC Champion!

On paper, a fight between Yan and Sterling makes a lot of sense for the vacant belt. Yan is currently riding a nine-fight win streak and is a perfect 6-0 in the Octagon. In his last fight at UFC 245, Yan picked up the biggest win of his career when he brutally knocked out veteran Urijah Faber to emerge as a top contender in the bantamweight division.

As for Sterling, he is 10-3 in the Octagon and he is currently riding a four-fight win streak with victories over Pedro Munhoz and Jimmie Rivera in his last two outings. He has not yet had the chance to fight for the bantamweight belt and due to his win streak and high ranking, he could very well be the guy the UFC pegs to fight Yan next.

Would you like to see Aljamain Sterling fight Petr Yan for the vacant title?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 5/12/2020.