Video! Sterling, Yan Nearly Brawl Backstage

Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan saw their feud boil over backstage following Friday’s UFC 273 weigh ins (replay HERE).

The two bantamweights have been on a collision course since their first meeting at UFC 259 back in Mar. 2021. After three competitive rounds Yan landed an illegal knee that rendered “Funk Master” unable to continue and Sterling ended up walking away with the undisputed UFC bantamweight title. It wasn’t a clean win for the veteran fighter and that is why Sterling is fighting Yan again this weekend at UFC 273.

Following Friday’s weigh ins, Sterling and Yan saw each other backstage along with their respective teams and things started to get heated. Each side has talked trash during fight week so tensions were understandably high. Sterling’s teammates, UFC fighters Merab Dvalishvili and Al Iaquinta, were quick to get in the mix.

Check out the skirmish below courtesy of UFC:

Luckily, security was in place to stop the melee from escalating. Sterling and Yan exchanged some words and chest puffing, but it ultimately died down and both fighters were led out of the building. It was a nice cherry on top of a rather eventful fight week, but fans will still have to pay the PPV price tag to see “Funk Master” and “No Mercy” finally settle their score.

UFC 273 goes down tomorrow night (Sat., April 9, 2022) live on ESPN+ PPV from inside VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla., with a featherweight title fight between current UFC champion Alexander Volkanovski and “Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung serving as the main event.

MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 273 fight card on fight night, starting with the ESPN+ “Prelims” matches at 6 p.m. ET, followed by the remaining undercard balance on ESPN/ESPN+ at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.

For more news and notes on UFC 273 be sure to visit our comprehensive event archive right here. For the updated, revised, and finalized “Volkanovski vs. Korean Zombie” fight card and ESPN+ PPV lineup click here.