Aljamain Sterling explains why he thinks Petr Yan was overrated by fans and the UFC

Aljamain Sterling believes Petr Yan was overrated and overhyped by the UFC and MMA fans.

Yan is the former UFC bantamweight champion and entered his first title defense against Aljamain Sterling as a sizeable betting favorite. The fight ended in controversial fashion as Sterling won the contest by DQ as a result of Yan throwing an illegal knee. After that, the Russian won the interim belt by decision as he beat Cory Sandhagen but has since lost three straight fights as he lost to Sterling in the rematch, Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili.

Seeing Petr Yan on a three-fight losing skid is a surprise to many fans, but Aljamain Sterling says he always thought the Russian was overrated.

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“I felt like the UFC had him as this f*****g golden goose that was going to make all these eggs for them. I was like dude, he isn’t as good as you guys think. This is coming from someone who’s in the sport and breaks down and analyzes the fight,” Aljamain Sterling said on BS with Jake Paul about Petr Yan. “I do my podcast, I break down these fights weekly. Stylistically, when I’m looking at him and seeing what he’s doing to the guys he’s fighting, he’s fighting guys that are stationary, standing right in front of him.

“He takes his time, he lets them pick his shots and then he picks his shots and he lands the better shots. If you get a guy who is actually trying to wrestle him, it’s a different fight, man,” Sterling continued about Yan. “You saw the fight with Merab, you saw the fight with myself, even the Sean fight, you get a guy with good footwork, it’s not the same fight, man. Things like that bother me.”

Ultimately, Aljamain Sterling believes he found the blueprint to beat Petr Yan and isn’t surprised the Russian is now on a losing skid.

Sterling is set to defend his bantamweight title against Sean O’Malley at UFC 292 while Yan does not have his next fight booked.