UFC 273: What Aljamain Sterling, Petr Yan learned about each other in controversial first fight

A rematch in mixed martial arts provides more than just a baked-in narrative and a number after the last name in the fight headline.

It also gives each fighter an opportunity to dig into their memory banks for some first-hand intel about tbeir opponent. So when Long Island's Aljamain Sterling and Russia's Petr Yan meet in the octagon for UFC 273: Sterling vs. Yan 2 on Saturday, they’ll do so with some personal knowledge of each other’s power, speed, angles and more.

They’ll also meet for the UFC bantamweight title, currently held by Sterling, who won it from Yan last year via disqualification after Yan landed an illegal knee to a downed Sterling.

"The rematch is always special, you know, because you've already been in there with your opponent, you already have information about him, and he has information about you," Yan told Newsday through interpreter Sayat Abdrakhmanov. "But this time is feeling special. Because it's not only a rematch, because his belt is on [the] line."

Sterling weighed in at 134.5 pounds on Friday morning in Jacksonville, with Yan coming in at 134 pounds, thus solidifying the championship bout.

Sterling outstruck Yan in their first match at UFC 259 in March 2021. Sterling was 119-for-260, and Yan was 103-for-157. But it was Yan who gained control of the fight in the fourth round as Sterling's pace slowed more with each round. Sterling said his nutrition on fight day was suboptimal, adding that all he ate on fight day was two pancakes and two eggs.

"That wasn't my best night," Sterling told Newsday. "And if not on my best night, I could hang in there for four rounds and still do what I did, being up on a judge's scorecards going into the fourth, which I was clearly losing, I think I like my chances in a rematch where I'm feeling good. And I think that's the most respectful way I can put it. I'm not dismissing his skills. I just think if that was all he can do to somebody who was a shell of himself, what happens when that guy's on."

Yan attributes his success in the cage that night -- Sterling was only 1-for-17 on takedown attempts in their first fight -- to something else.

"I was simply well prepared for this kind of situation in the fight," Yan said. "Right now, I can also imagine what he will try to do and I'm also well prepared for this kind of situation. I think I'm a fighter of a different caliber than him."

Bravado and courage are integral for fighters, given the nature of their job description to willingly lock themsleves inside the octagon with someone looking to inflict bodily harm on them.

But with a rematch, there's the added perspective of previous and direct knowledge of that harm-inflicting skillset, along with a sense of what worked and what didn't work and perhaps why the first time around.

"I feel like Yan is looking a lot bigger. He's looking more muscular," Sterling said. "I think there's a reason, because I think he felt how strong I was that he feels he needs to lift a little bit more coming into this one. And that excites me, because that lets me know, like, even though I was having an off night, he felt a presence in there, you know, that I wasn't going away, wasn't going to quit.

"Literally, anyone in the UFC division could have done that to me that night. And that's what I keep trying to get through to people's heads. He didn't do anything spectacular. It's what I was not able to do that day. I'm not saying he's bad. I think Yan is a great competitor. I think he's a great fighter. But I really do believe I'm the best."

By Mark La Monica

mark.lamonica@newsday.comLaMonicaMark

Mark La Monica is a deputy sports editor at Newsday. He also covers mixed martial arts.