Two title fights have been announced for UFC 272 in March, including Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan 2.
UFC President Dana White revealed to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that Sterling will look to defend his belt at the event in a rematch against Petr Yan. In addition, Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway will also have their trilogy bout at the pay-per-view event likely to take place in Las Vegas on March 5.
Sterling and Yan first fought back at UFC 259 in March of 2021 in a highly-anticipated fight. Sterling found success early on, but as the fight played on Yan began to take over and even dropped ‘The FunkMaster’. However, in the fourth round, Petr landed an illegal knee on Sterling could not continue resulting in a victory by way of DQ.
Since the fight, the two have taken shots at one another and were even booked to fight at UFC 267 in October. However, the champ in Sterling wasn’t medically cleared and Yan ended up fighting and defeating Cory Sandhagen by decision to win the interim belt. Now, the two will finally get to settle their differences and prove who the real bantamweight champ is.
Volkanovski and Holloway, meanwhile, first met at UFC 245 in December of 2019 where the Aussie won a clear-cut decision. He arguably won all five rounds as he shut the Hawaiian down to become the new featherweight champion.
The pair had their rematch at UFC 251 in July of 2020. It was a close fight that many thought the Hawaiian had won, but in the end Volkanovski was awarded a split decision. After the event, White talked about how a trilogy was necessary, and now nearly two years later, the fight is on.
Since their fights, Holloway went on to beat Calvin Kattar and Yair Rodriguez by decision. Volkanovski, meawhile, defeated Brian Ortega by decision to defend his belt for the second time.
Who do you think will win the fights between Sterling-Yan 2 and Volkanovski-Holloway 3? Let us know in the comment section, PENN Nation!