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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight titleholder Petr Yan will defend his 135-pound strap against No. 1-ranked division contender Aljamain Sterling in the UFC 256 pay-per-view (PPV) co-main event, scheduled for Sat., Dec. 12, 2020 inside APEX in Las Vegas, Nevada.
UFC President Dana White confirmed the pairing with Yahoo! Sports on Wednesday.
Yan (15-1) captured the vacant crown with a technical knockout win over Jose Aldo at UFC 251 last July. It was the tenth straight victory for “No Mercy” since crossing over from Absolute Championship Akhmat roughly two years back.
As for Sterling (19-3), the “Funk Master” bounced back from a knockout loss to Marlon Moraes by stringing together five straight wins, including his UFC 250 submission victory over red-hot contender Cory Sandhagen last June.
UFC 256 will be headlined by the women’s featherweight title fight pitting champion Amanda Nunes opposite challenger Megan Anderson. Elsewhere on the card, Dwight Grant collides with welterweight “Leech” Li Jingliang, while Mackenzie Dern returns against flyweight bruiser Virna Jandiroba.