Everyone was surprised to hear that Aljamain Sterling has pulled out of his bantamweight title bout with Petr Yan in Abu Dhabi. Well, everyone except the Russian who pointed out that he had predicted this several months ago.
Yan took to Twitter to mock Sterling:
https://t.co/ULInPBktIu pic.twitter.com/4Naxwq2R13
— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) September 26, 2021
The Russian was DQd at UFC 259 after landing an illegal knee with 30 seconds remaining in a fight he was on track to win by decision. He felt that Sterling made the most of the situation and there is bad blood between the two men.
They will have to wait to settle their differences in the octagon though. Sterling is not going to compete at UFC 267 but rumour has it that an interim title fight is in the pipeline.
Yan is expected to face Cory Sandhagen at the Etihad Arena on October 30th. The latter is ranked at #3 despite coming off a loss while the former is currently the #1 contender.
As previously announced Jingliang Li will be back in action on October 30th. The Chinese welterweight is set to face Khamzat Chimaev in Abu Dhabi.
The UFC held three shows in Abu Dhabi in January but the recent cards have all taken place in the US. Since the start of the pandemic the country has established itself as a regular venue for the octagon.
This card will be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight. Jan Błachowicz puts his strap on the line against Glover Teixeira.
UFC 267, Abu Dhabi, October 30th
Jan Blachowicz (c) vs. Glover Teixeira (For light heavyweight title)
Amanda Ribas vs. Virna Jandiroba (Strawweight)
Magomed Ankalaev vs. Volkan Oezdemir (Light Heavyweight)
Alexander Volkov vs. Marcin Tybura (Heavyweight)
Ricardo Ramos vs. Zubaira Tukhugov (Featherweight)
Damir Ismagulov vs. Magomed Mustafaev (Lightweight)
Alen Amedovski vs. Hu Yaozong (Middleweight)
Tagir Ulanbekov vs. Allan Nascimento (Flyweight)
Michał Oleksiejczuk vs. Shamil Gamzatov (Light Heavyweight)
Jingliang Li vs. Khamzat Chimaev (Welterweight)
