#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. In early March, the Russian fighter, former Arctic Dudinka rezident Peter Yan will fight at UFC 259 against No. 1 challenger Aljamain Sterling, and for the sake of this confrontation, the fighter nicknamed No Mercy made big changes in his training process.
Representative of the Archangel Michael team, Peter Yan (at the photo in the middle among other members of the team), instead of the usual training in Thailand, flew to the USA, to the renowned American Top Team hall. In Florida, the athlete will quickly adapt to the time zones, work with strong sparring partners, and make a big reserve for the future: foreign media write that Peter’s cooperation with American Top Tean will continue after the 259th numbered tournament.
Yan himself believes that on March 7, it is his hand that will rise above the cage of the APEX arena:
“Regarding the cancellation of the December fight with Sterling… Firstly, I had an injury. Secondly, I would have to fly to Kazakhstan for a visa to the United States three weeks before the battle, spending almost a week on it. It all overlapped at the same time. The layouts for the fight are as follows: we have completely different styles, but my goal is to break Sterling in every aspect. No matter how he wants to fight, I can compete with him in any area and defeat him”.
Yan has already chosen an opponent with whom he would like to carry out his second title defense. It will be former division champion TJ Dillashaw, who served a two-year ban for doping:
“He has a big name, and I watched him before I was in the UFC myself. He impressed me as a fighter. Now they are all awake, trying to speak out to me, since I have the belt and they need to be reminded of themselves. Of course, I would really like to fight with him!” Yan said in an interview with Dmitry Smolyakov’s YouTube channel.
However, many are warning Yan of how bad it can serve him to underestimate his current rival, Sterling, in the Octagon. So, another representative of the UFC bantamweight, Russian Said Nurmagomedov, said that his compatriot got simple opponents on the way to the title, and only the upcoming fight can become a real test for the champion.
“It seems to me that Sterling is inconvenient for Yan,” the MMAtika portal quotes Nurmagomedov. “He is tall and strikes incomprehensibly. Peter, of course, can have an advantage if Sterling gets tired, otherwise he is very uncomfortable for him. The fact is that all of Jan’s rivals in the UFC were comfortable for him, they were all small. I think that Peter has not yet been tested completely. There are so many fighters with whom you can match him: young promising guys who are not in the top, but much stronger than those who are at the top of the rating”.
Yan’s confrontation with Sterling will be part of the UFC 259 star card, which will take place on the night of March 7 Moscow time in Las Vegas.
Text: Maria Sokolova, Photo: fight.ru
