Aljamain Sterling vows to “dominate” Petr Yan in “one round” at UFC 273 to defend his belt

Aljamain Sterling believes he will finish Petr Yan in the first round at UFC 273 to defend his bantamweight title.

In the co-main event of UFC 273 from Jacksonville, Florida, Sterling and Yan are having their highly-anticipated rematch to unify their titles. Sterling became the undisputed champion back at UFC 259 last March when Yan was DQ’d for landing an illegal knee. Since then, Sterling has been rehabbing an injury while Yan went on to defeat Cory Sandhagen to become the interim bantamweight champion.

Heading into the fight, Yan is a sizeable favorite as many expect him to win, however, Sterling plans on silencing the doubters. Not only does he think he will win, ‘Funkmaster’ plans to dominate the Russian and finish him in the first round.

“We will see what the future has in store for me, I got to make sure I get past this guy first and I truly believe I’m going to dominate this guy in one round. I’m going to remind the world the last one was just a little hiccup,” Sterling said at the UFC 273 press conference. “At the end of the day, I’m here to create a legacy and this is what confidence looks like. Everyone can have an opinion, at the end of the day we are out here doing it. So, it’s okay to have an opinion. It doesn’t matter what you say or how you feel, it’s how we show up and how perform. I’m going to give you guys a great performance and that’s it.”

If Aljamain Sterling is to dominate and finish Petr Yan at UFC 273 as he says, it would solidify him as the champ and end the rivalry with the Russian for the time being. As he says, he would also like to silence all the critics who have called him the paper champ.

Do you think Aljamain Sterling will finish Petr Yan at UFC 273 as he says?