Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan will square off for the third time — but this time, in a coaching capacity.
The two-time UFC bantamweight championship opponents will serve as coaches on Russian reality TV series similar to The Ultimate Fighter. Sterling steps in as a replacement for longtime teammate and friend, along with current UFC 135-pound champion Merab Dvalishvili.
Both Sterling and Yan confirmed the switch on social media in a promotional post.
The reason for Dvalishvili’s scratch from the competition was not revealed in the announcement.
Sterling defeated Yan to win the bantamweight title via disqualification due to an illegal knee at UFC 259 in March 2021. They would run it back 13 months later in the co-main event of UFC 273 in a super close battle that saw “Funk Master” retain the championship via split decision.
Since then, Sterling would go on to lose the title to Sean O’Malley before making the move to featherweight. Yan overcame a three-fight losing skid and earned back-to-back decision wins in 2024 over Song Yadong and Deiveson Figueiredo.
