Sterling withdraws from Yan fight, Yan to fight for the interim belt

The manager of former UFC lightweight champion Petr Yan Sayat Abdrakhmanov has confirmed that current belt holder Aljamain Sterling will not be available for a rematch with his client on October 30 at UFC 267. The Russian is now very likely to fight for the interim belt at the upcoming tournament.

"Unfortunately, our fears have been confirmed and Sterling has withdrawn from the fight. He wasn't initially burning with the desire to fight Petr, especially in Abu Dhabi. He stated more than once that he doesn't want to fight there and now he's found a reason to withdraw from the fight.

Petr will still perform on that date and fight for the interim title, so a rematch with Sterling in the future is still inevitable.

"At the moment we gave a preliminary agreement on a new opponent, so we are waiting for the official papers," the press service of Archangel Michael club quotes Abdrakhmanov.

The first meeting of Yan and Sterling took place on March 6. In the fourth round of the bout the Russian inflicted an illegal knee, as a result of which he lost by disqualification and lost his belt.