UFC 273: Will We See Aljamain Sterling-Petr Yan 3 Next?

All signs point to an epic third meeting between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan.

Over the weekend at UFC 273, Sterling unified the UFC bantamweight belts with a win in the co-main event.

Yan entered the interim champion, and was looking to avenge a disqualification loss to Sterling that cost him the title in the first place.

While Sterling controlled the early stages of the five-round battle with his wrestling, Yan came on late. 

In fact, many – including UFC president Dana White – felt as if Yan would have his hand raised. 

Instead, it was Sterling, the protege of Ray Longo and teammate of Chris Weidman, who was declared the winner.

Everything would appear to be in place for a third meeting to determine the champion moving forward. 

The next challenger according to the rankings would be TJ Dillashaw. The former champion earned a split decision over Cory Sandhagen.

That, though, was his first fight since 2019 due to being suspended for failing a drug test. 

Did Dillashaw do more than Yan to earn the next crack? It wouldn’t appear so.

Yan also claimed a decision win over Sandhagen back in late 2021 for the interim belt. His only losses are the two matches vs. Sterling, and many still feel he won both of them.

If the UFC wants to capitalize on Sterling and Yan, it would make all the sense in the world to match the two back up for a big-time trilogy match later this year.