UFC bantamweight titleholder Petr Yan will defend his 135-pound strap against No. 1-ranked division contender Aljamain Sterling at the UFC 259 pay-per-view (PPV) event, scheduled for Sat., March 6, 2021 in either Las Vegas or Abu Dhabi.
And he’ll do it as the -135 favorite.
That’s according to our fiscal friends over at BetOnline, who pegged “Funk Master” as the +115 betting underdog. With a line that close, don’t be surprised to see their positions flip-flop as money starts to pour in on both sides.
Or “No Mercy” could simply widen the gap.
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 the Russian bruiser 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 259 will be headlined by the light heavyweight title fight pitting Jan Blachowicz opposite middleweight kingpin Israel Adesanya. In the PPV co-main event, Amanda Nunes returns from parenting duty to defend her 145-pound strap against Megan Anderson.