T.J. Dillashaw: Aljamain Sterling ‘doesn’t have that fighting spirit in him,’ loses to ‘killer’ Petr Yan in rematch
T.J. Dillashaw thinks Petr Yan will have his way with Aljamain Sterling.
Yan (16-2 MMA, 8-1 UFC) appeared to be en route to defeating Sterling at UFC 259 this past March until he threw an illegal knee in Round 4 which rendered Sterling (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) unable to continue. The resulting disqualification cost Yan the bantamweight title.
Since then, Yan captured a piece of his title back when he defeated Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 to claim an interim belt and is set to run things back with Sterling at UFC 273 in April. Based on the way the first fight was going, Dillashaw doesn’t see Sterling able to make the necessary adjustments.
“My money’s on Yan, just to see the way that fight went down and kind of see Aljamain just break and give up and really didn’t have much for him,” Dillashaw told ESPN. “I was kind of expecting Sterling to give him a lot more trouble in the grappling aspects and the takedown, and Yan just kind of shrugged him off like he had no strength. I don’t know if there’s much you can change with that, that mentality. and Yan’s a killer.”
Dillashaw (16-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) went on to take aim at Sterling, claiming that he doesn’t have that same killer instinct as himself or Yan.
“You see the way he fights, he stays real tight, stays clean, and he’s just got the mentality that he’s a fighter,” Dillashaw added on Yan. “You got those competitors, you got athletes, and then you got fighters. Guys like myself and guys like Yan are the full package – you do all of them – where I feel like Sterling’s more of maybe a competitor or an athlete. He doesn’t have that fighting spirit in him. He’s a little bit weak when it comes to that.”
Dillashaw, who’s currently healing from knee surgery, is targeting a mid-year return and is eyeing the winner of Sterling vs. Yan.
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Twitter reacts to Aljamain Sterling's DQ win to take title from Petr Yan at UFC 259
