I just can't imagine Sterling vs Yan being competitive.

Yan would beat Cejudo handily

The only fighter I'd give upwards of a 40% chance to beat Yan is a prime Dillashaw
Cejudo beats any version of Yan. He's on a different level
 
Yan is going to win pretty comfortably.
 
The only issue is that Yan hasn't beaten anyone world class except old aldo. Sterlings record is much better. I got Sterling by sub 2nd round.
 
"and new" is coming at the end of that fight.

Besides the ghost of Aldo and Jimmie Yan has beaten anyone worth noting.
 
I respect Sterling's skills a lot but I just don't see a repeatable path to victory in this fight.

I know people will say "oh, Aljo can take Yan's back and choke him" but I'm not even sure Aljo is the better grappler.

I've watched a lot of Yan's ACA fights and he is absolutely brutal in the clinch and a slick technician on the ground, especially from bottom.

Yan will stuff every Aljo takedown with ease and brutalize him standing. 3rd rd finish after a prolonged beatdown.
I happen to think Yan brutalizes Aljo here. But Aljo has a very clear path to victory.
 
Sterling will go for the clinch right away most likely, try to trip. Not sure about Yan's overall grappling. He's not a Sambo guy in the traditional way a lot of Russians are.
 
I just checked both of their records. Aljo has definitely taken a tougher path to the title than Yan did. Prior to fighting Aldo, Yan's best win was Jimmie Rivera, who has been going downhill since getting nuked by Moraes. Sterling has beaten Rivera, Sandhagen, Munhoz, and Stamann. I'm not saying that Aljo should be favored against Yan, but he is definitely more proven in the division than Yan is atm.

Finally some fucking sense. I like Yan, but he is getting talked up way too much for a guy with only 1 top 5 win.


Who has Yan beat again? Washed up Aldo and Faber? 2 years ago he was fighting Ishihara for crying out loud. Rivera is his best win by far and Rivera looked very off that night.

He beat a single top 5 fighter before fighting a passed it Aldo for the belt, and let's not pretend like Aldo wasn't competitive for a lot of that.

Meanwhile, Sterling is out there at least fighting people at the top.

The whole top 5 gives Yan trouble. Cruz, TJ, Cody, Cory, and Cejudo would likely beat him I think.

Yan is really unproven, but he's made it pretty clear that he knows that and wants to fight the top in the division to prove himself, which is awesome.
 
@surgeyou1 agree. Hes a dog and we’re gonna see what yans about. Hoping for a great fight. Should be
 
Yeah I’m imagining aljamain gets knocked out early.
 
A lot of you in here are trippin' thinking that Sterling doesn't have much of a chance. He's battle tested, improving, and seeming to enter his prime. If he comes out anything like he did against Sandhagen, it's gonna be big trouble for Yan.
 
I will post my betslip on fight week, you can hold me to that.

It won't be a small amount either.
Was gonna shit all over your OP until i saw this post. It's easy to make bold predictions without having to back it up. Hespect.

I'll hold you to this.
 
A lot of you in here are trippin' thinking that Sterling doesn't have much of a chance. He's battle tested, improving, and seeming to enter his prime. If he comes out anything like he did against Sandhagen, it's gonna be big trouble for Yan.
One of the most impressive performances this year. Even if Sandhagen wasn't "on", it only proved that you have to be on the absolute top of your game when facing Sterling. Or he's gonna run you over.
 
Ever since I watched that comparison video between Aljamin Sterling & Jones, it got me curious whether he can actually win a belt in his division or not (just because both him and Jones are both lanky guys whose striking is somewhat eccentric; not a solid reason but meh).

Yan seems like someone who has the appropriate tools for handling almost every situation that he gets himself into though, plus impeccable timing on when to strike and when to dodge and move.

Sterling's best bet in this fight is to get it down to the ground because Petr Yan has phenomenal striking skills (outstriking Aldo for one), and I just don't see him being outclassed on the standup.
 
I like both guys a lot. I saw this as being close to a 50/50 fight when it was first on the horizon after Sterling tapped Sandhagen. Aljo is more proven in the division and has what I would argue to be the best overall arsenal of offensive wrestling and BJJ at 135, which he blends together seamlessly. On top of that his slightly unorthodox kickboxing is solid, albeit not elite.

Yan has his base in his really high-level boxing skills where few people can hope to match him, enhanced by some excellent Muay Thai. I would definitely say he outstrikes Aljo over the course of a 5-round fight, either at distance or in the clinch. Maybe not put a clinic on him or anything, but that's definutely more his world.

But the grappling is the equalizer... in theory. I think an important part of this fight is Yan's camp. He's spent time training in Dagestan with high-level wrestlers day in and day out. He's done this before and it immensely aided his game. Back in ACB, Yan's only loss was to Dagestani Magomed Magomedov (a legit high-caliber talent recently signed by Bellator) who was able to take him down almost at will and hold him down for much of the fight. Despite this, Petr worked well off his back (seriously, the guy has a decent guard game) and showed good scrambles along with defending against submissions and GnP quite well while making good use of his time on the feet. Despite struggling with the takedowns, I scored the fight as either 47-46 Yan or a draw (depending on whether one round was a 10-8 or not), but the ref called an incidental clash of heads a "headbutt" and docked Petr a point, resulting in him getting a Split Decision loss.

Petr went to the aforementioned Dagestani wrestling camp and rematched Magomed just a few months later. Completely different story in their second bout. Yan stuffed every single shot that came his way across five rounds before punishing Magomedov relentlessly on the feet and in the clinch. Straight-up sprawl-n-brawl to a dominant UD victory. He even went on the offensive with some wrestling of his own, picking the Dagestani fighter up and slamming him on the canvas repeatedly. It was an impressive degree of improvement in only a few months' time (with a fight against a different opponent in between the first bout and the rematch, mind you).

Bearing this in mind, Yan training at this camp gives him the slightest of edges in my mind. Petr already has a comfortable striking advantage as I see it. Training day in and day out with big, strong wrestlers who are subject matter experts in the sort of way Aljo prefers to fight (as "funky" as he seems to think his brand of wrestling may be) is just solid game-planning at the end of the day. Those reps on the mats will pay dividends if/when Aljo tries to impose his will on Petr and fails to get the fight to his comfort zone.

I've got it probably ~60/40 in Yan's favor. UD or TKO in the second half of the bout via sprawl-n-brawl. Still plenty on the table for Aljo to pull something out of the hat via experience and craftiness in a scramble. That finish on Sandhagen -- a hot contender on a 7-fight win streak -- was legitimately impressive.
 
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Finally some fucking sense. I like Yan, but he is getting talked up way too much for a guy with only 1 top 5 win.


Who has Yan beat again? Washed up Aldo and Faber? 2 years ago he was fighting Ishihara for crying out loud. Rivera is his best win by far and Rivera looked very off that night.

He beat a single top 5 fighter before fighting a passed it Aldo for the belt, and let's not pretend like Aldo wasn't competitive for a lot of that.

Meanwhile, Sterling is out there at least fighting people at the top.

The whole top 5 gives Yan trouble. Cruz, TJ, Cody, Cory, and Cejudo would likely beat him I think.

Yan is really unproven, but he's made it pretty clear that he knows that and wants to fight the top in the division to prove himself, which is awesome.
old Aldo that fought Yan that night brutalizes Aljamain.
 
One of the most impressive performances this year. Even if Sandhagen wasn't "on", it only proved that you have to be on the absolute top of your game when facing Sterling. Or he's gonna run you over.

yeah, if you get taken down more than half of the times when trying to defend you certainly need to be wary about Aljo's wrestling and grappling.
 
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