After a few hiccups for the next fight for the UFC bantamweight title in the octagon, Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling finally have a new date.
Two people with knowledge of the situation informed MMA Junkie on Thursday that the contracts were made for Yan (15-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) and Sterling (19-3 MMA, 11-3 UFC) for the UFC 259 event March, raising the fight card to three championship fights.
The people asked for anonymity because the UFC has not yet made an official announcement.
UFC 259 takes place on March 6th. The location and location have not been revealed, but the main card will air on pay-per-view after the preliminaries expected on ESPN and ESPN +.
Yan has achieved a brilliant unbeaten streak in the UFC so far, beating all opponents who stood before him. After Henry Cejudo vacated the 135-pound title earlier this year, Yan claimed the vacant belt against Jose Aldo at UFC 251 last July.
He was supposed to make his first title defense at UFC 256 in December, but was forced to withdraw due to personal problems.
Sterling, 31, won his shot at the title with a streak of five straight wins and wins in seven of the last eight fights overall. He’s coming out of a quick submission in Cory Sandhagen’s first round at UFC 250 in June.
UFC 259’s last fight card now includes:
Jan Blachowicz vs. Israel Adesanya – for light heavyweight title Amanda Nunes vs. Megan Anderson – for women’s featherweight title Petr Yan vs. Aljamain Sterling – for bantamweight title Aleksandar Rakic vs. Thiago Santos Dominick Cruz vs. Casey Kenney Drew Dober vs. Islam Makhachev Askar Askarov vs. Joseph Benavidez Sean Brady vs. Jake Matthews Randy Costa vs. Trevin Jones Aalon Cruz vs. Uros Medic Tim Elliott vs. Jordan Espinosa