UFC Bantamweight champion Petr Yan already has his sights set on an opponent following his upcoming title defense at UFC 259.
The champion spoke to Fanatics View’s James Lynch about who he believes should challenge for the title after the upcoming fight with Sterling and he instantly thought of one name.
Who will fight the winner of the #UFC259 bantamweight title fight?
Champion Petr Yan says if he's victorious, he's open to fighting TJ Dillashaw next if the price is right
Full interview via @fanaticsview
https://t.co/HJRrM317uX pic.twitter.com/6qVYTjy4zS
— James Lynch (@LynchOnSports) January 29, 2021
“Might be TJ Dillashaw after popping, I want fight with him yeah,” Yan said.
The former Bantamweight champion TJ Dillashaw was suspended for two years in 2019 after testing positive for using performance-enhancing drugs. At this time he was stripped of his title and has remained on the sidelines ever since.
Lynch asked Yan if he thought given the suspension, Dillashaw should or shouldn’t be fighting for the title, however, the champion said that it would be up to the UFC.
“It’s up to the UFC, you know it’s whatever they decide, if the terms are right I’m going to fight him whenever. Let’s make sure he’s not going to use anything prohibited this time.”
Yan is set to defend his Bantamweight title on March 3rd at UFC 259 against Aljamain Sterling in a bout that was originally scheduled for December of 2020.
Sterling is coming off a dominant first-round submission victory at UFC 250 against Corey Sandhagen, while the champion is coming off his successful bid to win the belt against Jose Aldo at UFC 251.
The bout was forced to be postponed in December after Yan pulled out due to undisclosed reasons.
Currently, no date has been set for Dillashaw’s return to the sport, however, his suspension is currently up meaning that he could return at any date in the future.
In his last bout, Dillashaw made the move down to Flyweight to challenge for the title against Henry Cejudo. This move didn’t end up well for the former Bantamweight champion resulting in him being finished by TKO early into round one.