Video: How much pressure is on Aljamain Sterling to beat Petr Yan at UFC 273?

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Video: How much pressure is on Aljamain Sterling to beat Petr Yan at UFC 273?

In UFC 273 co-main event on Saturday, Aljamain Sterling will put his bantamweight championship on the line in a rematch with interim champ Petr Yan to unify the titles.

As you recall, their first encounter at UFC 259 ended with Yan being disqualified after he hit Sterling with an illegal knee in the fourth round of a fight he was starting to take over. Sterling has not fought since then and has endured tons of criticism about the way he acquired the belt even though it was a just decision by the referee.

Not surprisingly, Sterling isn’t being given much of a chance by the general public or oddsmakers, who have him listed as a +340 underdog and Yan as a big -500 favorite (according to Tipico Sportsbook).

Does Sterling need a dominant performance to erase all that and get him some proper respect, or would simply winning do that? If Yan dominates Sterling, how will the champ’s reign be looked at? That’s what we asked our “Spinning Back Clique” panel of Mike Bohn, Matthew Wells, and Brian “Goze” Garcia, who discussed the topic with host “Gorgeous” George Garcia.

You can watch their discussion in the video above, or check out this week’s full episode below.

Video: How much pressure is on Aljamain Sterling to beat Petr Yan at UFC 273?