Sterling beat rival Petr Yan on Saturday in their rematch at UFC 273 in Jacksonville, Florida, winning a fatal decision after five rounds to unite the undisputed bantamweight title with Yan’s interim title. The victory officially brought Sterling 2-0 in their turn, with the “Funk Master” becoming the champion at UFC 259 in March last year, when Yan was disqualified for hitting a fallen Sterling with an illegal knee. Their second meeting had less controversy during the match, but then there were many second speculations about the rating from fans, media and UFC president Dana White. In the evening press after the match, White clearly stated that he did not agree with the decision of the judges. “I thought the judges broke it,” White said. “I was 3-2 on the contrary. I do not know how you wrote it. “I guess it’s all about how you score this first round.” According to the official scores, Round 1 was indeed the decisive one with judges Sal D’Amato and Eliseo Rodriguez scoring 10-9 for Sterling and referee Chris Lee scoring 10-9 for Yan. No 10-8 was rewarded for any round, despite the fact that Sterling had back control for almost the entire Round 2 while threatening with submissions and hits. Jan then used the post-match interview time to seek a rematch with Sterling. He entered Saturday as interim UFC bantamweight champion after defeating Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 to claim that empty belt. It is possible that Yan will have to wait for a third shot at Sterling, especially considering the roster depth of 135 pounds. Two-time champion TJ Dillashaw was present at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena and earlier in the night said he would prefer a title match against Yan. White would like to see the Sterling-Yan trilogy in the backburner for now, with Dillashaw waiting on the wings. “Listen to this [third Sterling-Yan] “The fight will be there,” White said. “Peter Jan is one of the worst guys in the league. You will probably do the TJ fight “.
