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As reported by RT Sport, reigning UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan is unable to compete in his title fight against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 256 due to various factors, including visa issues.
The MMA community was recently set abuzz by the news of the Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling matchup being scrapped from next month’s UFC 256 fight card.
Initial speculation suggested that visa issues likely prevented Yan from traveling from his native Russia to the US, where the fight was set to take place. Other reports also claimed that Yan pulled out from the fight due to “personal reasons."
According to RT Sport, Petr Yan spoke to his fans via Instagram Live and confirmed that the visa issues did play a role in him being unable to fight at UFC 256.
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"Everything's in force for the fight. It's going to be postponed for about a month and a half, but everything's in order…There were different problems, with the flight, with the visa, during training I flew away for a visa deadline, lots of factors. We decided with the team to move everything to next year, perhaps the card will be more suitable...Everything is good, training continues."
Additionally, Petr Yan explained that back when he wasn’t the UFC bantamweight champion, he would be willing to fly out to do battle without thinking much and would often take risks.
Yan added that now he’s champion, he has to do everything right. Furthermore, Yan emphasized that he most definitely believes he can defeat Aljamain Sterling.
He continued by stating it would be “stupid” to not believe in himself, and reiterated that his UFC bantamweight title fight against Sterling will indeed take place at some point.
Aljamain Sterling has responded to Petr Yan pulling out of their UFC 256 fight
Petr Yan is coming off a huge fifth-round TKO win over former UFC featherweight champion and MMA legend Jose Aldo, whom he beat in July. Yan won the vacant UFC bantamweight title with his victory over Aldo, and was set to defend his title against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 256.
Meanwhile, Aljamain Sterling is currently on a five-fight winning streak and is coming off a spectacular first-round submission victory over top contender Cory Sandhagen in June.
Needless to say, Petr Yan’s clash against Aljamain Sterling is being hailed by many as one of the most important fights the UFC could put forth in the days to come. Sterling has taken to Twitter to respond to Petr Yan pulling out of their fight.
Why do you think this anticipated bout has been postponed? Sound off in the comments.
