UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling looks to be in the shape of his life ahead of his rematch with Petr Yan this weekend.
The American will face Yan, the interim champion, at UFC 273 in Florida, after winning the belt in controversial circumstances by disqualification in March last year. Sterling was dominated from the first bell by the Russian, but was knocked out with an illegal knee in round four, and was awarded the belt as a result.
They were scheduled to rematch last October, but Sterling had lingering injuries as a result of the incident and was unable to compete. Instead, Yan fought Corey Sandhagen for the interim belt, picking up a dominant decision victory on the UFC's 'Fight Island' in Abu Dhabi.
But they are now set to finally meet again, and Sterling has spent his year out of the octagon getting in prime physical condition as he looks to defend his belt and prove the doubters wrong. He has overcome an early-career neck injury to return to training in full health, and is expected to give Yan a better showing than their first meeting.
He took to social media to post photos showing off his impressive physique, with one caption reading: "When you see someone that owe pain!" Another post days earlier claimed that there were just "eight days 'til I squeeze this man’s head off!"
"I always put it off because I was able to get through it and compete," he said of the injury during a recent interview for the UFC 273 countdown show. "I've walked through fire to just show up for fights."
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And he is now ready for a tough battle against a Yan who is embittered by what he feels was an unfair call during their fight. He undoubtedly committed the foul, but just a week later when Leon Edwards had poked Belal Muhammad's eye, the fight was ruled a no contest, further fuelling the controversy of the finish.
"I think the worst case scenario for me is that the fight should have been ruled as a 'no contest'," Yan argued after the fact. "Instead of awarding a losing fighter with the belt.
"After such a fight, a fighter with dignity would not accept this title and would not name himself a champion - the only plan is to go out and show a dominant performance, because everyone who knows MMA doesn't consider him champion."
