Petr Yan vs Aljamain Sterling to Co-Headline UFC 256

Petr Yan will defend the UFC bantamweight title against Aljamain at UFC 256 on December 12th. According to UFC President Dana White, the bout will be the co-headliner of the event. UFC 256 will be headlined by the women’s featherweight title bout between Amanda Nunes and Megan Anderson. It is expected to take place at the UFC’s APEX Facility in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Petr Yan’s first bantamweight title defense will come against Aljamain Sterling in the UFC 256 co-main event on Dec. 12, Dana White told @bokamotoESPN. pic.twitter.com/Luk49sPFLE

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 14, 2020

First Title Defense

The 27-year old Yan won the UFC bantamweight title at UFC 251 last July. He knocked out former longtime champion Jose Aldo in five rounds, dominating the Brazilian from start to finish. The bantamweight title became vacant after Henry Cejudo announced his retirement earlier this year.

Yan is a former ACB bantamweight champion in Russia who joined the UFC in 2018. He is undefeated inside the UFC octagon with seven wins including four finishes. His UFC resume is impressive as he has posted wins over former UFC title challengers John Dodson and Urijah Faber plus former champion in Aldo. This will be Yan’s first defense of the bantamweight title

Sterling is the no. 1 ranked bantamweight contender in the UFC. The 31-year old from Uniondale, New York is a former Cage Fury Fighting Championship and Ring of Combat bantamweight champion. Known as Master Funk, Sterling submitted Cory Sandhagen in a title eliminator at UFC 250. He has won five consecutive bouts since losing to Marlon Moraes in 2017. This will be the first title shot for Sterling.

Return of Amanda Nunes

The main event of UFC 256 is the return of Amanda Nunes who last fought at UFC 250 last June where she successfully defended the bantamweight title against Felicia Spencer. The Lioness is the no. 1 women’s pound for pound fighter in the UFC and she is in the midst of the longest winning streak in women’s MMA history at 11 bouts. Nunes is the first woman to win two world titles in the UFC and will become the first to defend two different belts at UFC 256.

Nunes recently added another title to her collection- mother, after her partner Nina Ansaroff gave birth to the couple’s first child last month. Ansaroff is also a UFC fighter in the women’s strawweight division. With the birth of Raegan Ann Nunes, the Lioness also becomes the first UFC women’s champion to become a mother.

Challenging Nunes for the featherweight belt will be Megan Anderson. The 30-year old from Australia is a former Invicta FC featherweight champion. She joined the UFC in 2018 and after losing her octagon debut to Holly Holm, Anderson has won three out of her last four bouts. With the dearth of contenders at the women’s featherweight division, she will step up to face Nunes in the latter’s first defense of the featherweight title.

Champs Are the Favorites

The odds for both title fights are already out at SportsBetting.ag and both champs are the betting favorites in their respective bouts. Yan is currently pegged at -180 while Sterling is the underdog in the bantamweight title fight at +155. On the women’s side of things, the Lioness is a heavy -800 odds on favorite against her first featherweight challenger who is currently at +550.

Yan is coming off a dominant win over Aldo but at the same time, there aren’t too many big names under his belt. Sterling is the no. 1 contender and he’s racked up five straight wins and is on a roll right now. The Funk Master is also an excellent submission artist and we haven’t seen Yan get tested on the mat. This could easily turn out to be an exciting contest.

Meanwhile, Nunes is a massive favorite against Anderson. The Lioness is one of the most dominant female fighters of all-time. Anderson lost to Holly Holm in her UF debut. On the other hand, Nunes knocked out Holm inside one round at UFC 239 and the champ has won 11 consecutive bouts to date.