"Pedro Munhoz hits harder" - Aljamain Sterling plays down Petr Yan's standup game

Aljamain Sterling said that Petr Yan does not hit as hard as he expected after their title fight at UFC 259 last Saturday.

The UFC bantamweight belt changed hands as Yan landed an illegal knee strike to Aljamain Sterling's head while he was grounded. The Russian was disqualified, and Funk Master was declared the new champion.

The two extended their rivalry, bringing the feud to social media, where altercations continued. Speaking to The Schmo on YouTube, Aljamain Sterling took the chance to throw another jab at Yan.

"Honestly, I thought he would hit a lot harder because, you know, he was the boogeyman. Petr Yan was the guy to beat that everyone was saying."

He compared Yan's strength to Pedro Munhoz, No. 8 in the bantamweight rankings, whom Sterling fought in 2019. According to Sterling, Munhoz's strikes were so hard that his internal organs were damaged, as he was urinating blood for some time after the fight.

"He hits hard, but I think Pedro [Munhoz] hits harder. In a three-round fight with Pedro, I took more damage from the shots that he gave me. I don't know if it's because of the placement of the shots that hit me to the body, in comparison to where Petr Yan hit me. But yeah, I was in more pain from that fight, outside of the head injury, of course, but yeah."

Aljamain Sterling defeats Pedro Munhoz by decision pic.twitter.com/zf8Dn5XUTr

— CFU FU (@CFUVT) June 5, 2020

Even though Funk Master was severely injured in that bout, he still managed to defeat Munhoz, winning via unanimous decision.

Aljamain Sterling slams Petr Yan for "not knowing MMA rules"

UFC 259 Press Conference

Although UFC 259 had three title fights, it was an illegal knee disqualification that got most of the fans and press's attention for the night. The topic is still reverberating online as Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan continue to add fire to their feud.

After the Russian heavily criticized Funk Master for celebrating the belt, Aljamain Sterling responded, calling Yan "stupid" for allegedly not knowing the rules of a sport he was a champion in.

"Celebrating what? Two training camps for your dumb *ss to just do some dumb illegal sh*t? How does the champ not know the rules? Because you are too stupid to know the rules, I have to watch to start training again for a rematch. Bravo, champ! Bravo!"

Celebrating what? Two training camps for your dumb ass to just do some dumb illegal shit? How does the champ not know the rules?Because you are to stupid to know the rules I have to watch to start training again for a rematch. Bravo 👏🏾 champ! Bravo! https://t.co/KB77iDooka

— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) March 9, 2021