UFC 272 will feature a pair of title fight rematches.
Two title fights are lined up for UFC 272 in Las Vegas on March 5th.
Dana White told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that men’s bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling will rematch interim champ Petr Yan, while men’s featherweight king Alexander Volkanovski is set for a trilogy with Max Holloway.
A winner of 20 in a row, Volkanovski (23-1) won the featherweight belt from Max Holloway at UFC 245 in December 2019. In the much-debated rematch, Volkanovski overcame a slow start to win a split decision over Holloway at UFC 251 in Abu Dhabi. The Australian defended his belt successfully in a thrilling decision over Brian Ortega at UFC 266 last September.
Holloway (23-6) is on a two-fight win streak after his defeats to the current champ. The Hawaiian absolutely ripped apart Calvin Kattar and did everything but finish him in their January 2021 main event. He followed that up with an exciting five-round decision over Yair Rodriguez in November.
Sterling (20-3) won the bantamweight title at UFC 259 through disqualification of Petr Yan, marking the first ever championship-winning DQ in UFC history. Yan was ahead on all judges’ scorecards through three rounds, but a very illegal knee to the head while he was down prompted the DQ outcome. The New Yorker has been on the sideline due to lingering neck problems, hence an interim title was created.
Yan (16-2) won the interim belt by decision over Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 in October. He initially captured the vacant title at UFC 251 when he stopped the legendary Jose Aldo in the final round. The disqualification in the Sterling fight remains his only blemish inside the Octagon.
UFC 272 also features a featherweight tilt between Edson Barboza and Bryce Mitchell, as well as a potential strawweight title eliminator between Marina Rodriguez and Yan Xiaonan.