JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan were scheduled to go head-to-head at UFC 273’s presser on Thursday, but UFC officials separated them before they had a chance.
Sterling and Yan, the undisputed and interim UFC Bantamweight Champions, battled verbally throughout the 45-minute gathering looking to follow in the footsteps of UFC Featherweight Champion Alexander Volkanovski, who had a staredown with his opponent The Korean Zombie on Saturday demanded and got .
Yan marched straight across the press conference stage to where Sterling waved his rival in. But before he could get nose to nose, he was interrupted by a UFC security guard. Two other security guards blocked Sterling’s way as he appeared to be staring at Petr. UFC play-by-play man Jon Anik, who pinch hitter for UFC President Dana White in the through, stood between the bantamweights and had comfortable protection from the action, and welterweight Gilbert Burns watched the encounter with a smile.
Watch a closer video of the near faceoff below.
Sterling and Yan are co-headlining Saturday’s pay-per-view event at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in a title unifier.
Yan seemed to take many of Sterling’s insults, but he promised fans in English, “I’ll kill him on Saturday.” Sterling brought a Jacksonville Jaguars helmet and his self-penned “MMA Rulebook 4 Dummies,” referencing the controversial outcome of his first fight with Yan, which resulted in a disqualification victory when the Russian illegally kneed him in the head. The American seemed to enjoy the boos from the crowd.
“Finally I can shut up that motherfucker,” Sterling said. “It’s going to be so cute. I guarantee you that everyone here will be cheering and suddenly they’ll be back on the train. That’s how the fans are, but I’m just glad the fans are tuning in.”