Some problems have emerged for Petr Yan in the lead-up to his title rematch against Aljamain Sterling.
Good News And Bad News
In the midst of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. government is taking extra restrictions on who they let into the country. Unfortunately for Petr Yan, his Russian team has had their visa’s denied by the USA. That’s the bad news, but the good news is that the UFC interim champion will be allowed into the country, according to Tass’ Igor Lazorin. Yan is good to go, since he’s had his U.S. visa for 3 years.
It’s definitely a hard pill to swallow for Yan as he doesn’t currently have a team to corner him at UFC 273. This would be the suggested reason as to why Yan pulled out of his fight against Sterling at UFC 256, because he didn’t have his team with him due to visa issues. Hopefully, this isn’t the case this time around.
Coach Khabib?
Lazorin says Yan’s fellow countryman Khabib Nurmagomedov could potentially corner him. It’d make sense, since they are both friends. Whatever the possibility for Yan’s new team may be, ‘No Mercy’ has less than a month to get a team together for Apr. 9 in Jacksonville, Florida.
History With Sterling
Original team or not, Yan remains confident ahead of his rematch against Aljamain Sterling. The two bantamweights first fought at UFC 259 in March 2021. The Russian champion was well on his way to victory, but an illegal knee in round 4 changed everything.
Yan would unload the illegal move while Sterling was grounded. ‘Funkmaster’ wouldn’t funk with it and would not recover. After a few minutes, the challenger would be crowned the new bantamweight champion. Sterling would be the first UFC Champ to win by disqualification.
More than a year later, Yan looks to get his undisputed title back at UFC 273.
