Aljamain Sterling claims he is now equal with Petr Yan as latter 'backed out because of his estrogen system'; predicts he will 'f*** him up' in rematch

After pulling out of his scheduled rematch against Petr Yan, Aljamain Sterling has claimed he's now equal with the Russian. In his latest tweet, 'Funk Master' has accused 'No Mercy' of initially pulling out of their originally scheduled fight due to 'his estrogen system'.

Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan were officially scheduled to fight for the bantamweight title at UFC 256. Yan, however, pulled out at the last minute citing visa issues. The fight later took place at UFC 259 and Sterling ended up becoming the first fighter in UFC history to win a title via DQ.

According to Sterling, Yan had no reason to pull out of their originally scheduled bout because he wasn't injured. Sterling believes it had something to do with 'No Mercy' using estrogen blockers which help restart the production of testosterone in fighters and are prohibited by the USADA:

"Yes! We’re equal now. Yan backed out because of his estrogen system. I backed out from a surgical process not being completed yet. #Identical!" Sterling wrote.

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Aljamain Sterling said he could have been paralyzed inside the octagon at UFC 267 had he not pulled out of the fight

Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan were set to rematch at UFC 267. 'Funk Master' pulled out of the fight due to recurring issues related to a neck injury he went under the knife for earlier this year. Speaking to Ariel Helwani a couple of months ago, Sterling explained why he had to opt out of the scheduled rematch with Yan:

"For me to pull out of a fight with an actual medical clearance [stating] that I’m actually not ready and fit to do five rounds, I think that’s a pretty good, logical reason to not want to be paralyzed in the octagon. I am not looking to be the first person to win a belt by DQ and the first person to be in the octagon and be paralyzed in the cage,” Sterling said.

Yan fought Cory Sandhagen in an interim title fight at UFC 267 and picked up a win, setting up a title unification bout with Sterling. Whenever the fight takes place, Aljamain Sterling believes his first title defense will be successful and claims he'll 'f**k him up' in the rematch.