In March, Ian lost to Sterling by disqualification due to a prohibited knee blow and lost his belt. The rematch was expected to take place on October 30 at UFC 267, but the American was eliminated due to injury. As a result, the Russian fought for an interim title with Corey Sandhagen, winning by unanimous decision.
Also within the framework of UFC 272 will be the third fight between featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski and former belt owner Max Holloway. Their first two fights took place in 2019 and 2020 - Volkanovski won by unanimous and split decision, respectively.