Yan: Visa issues derailed UFC 256 title fight with Sterling

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Bantamweight champion Petr Yan reveals the reason for his withdrawal from his UFC 256 title fight against Aljamain Sterling. The weekend ended with some disappointing news regarding UFC 25…


UFC 251: Yan v Aldo
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Bantamweight champion Petr Yan reveals the reason for his withdrawal from his UFC 256 title fight against Aljamain Sterling.

The weekend ended with some disappointing news regarding UFC 256. Bantamweight champion Petr Yan withdrew from his title fight against Aljamain Sterling, but gave no specific reason.

Upon hearing the news, the challenger simply sent his well-wishes.

During an Instagram Live session on Monday, Yan finally pulled the curtain back. Fortunately, it wasn’t related to any injuries or serious health issues.

“There were different problems, with the flight, with the visa, during training I flew away for a visa deadline, lots of factors,” Yan revealed (via RT Sport). “We decided with the team to move everything to next year, perhaps the card will be more suitable…

“Everything is good, training continues.”

Yan vs. Sterling has no final date yet, but the champion is expecting it to happen within the first two months of 2021.

“Everything’s in force for the fight. It’s going to be postponed for about a month and a half, but everything’s in order,” he stated.

UFC 256 is scheduled to take place on December 12 at the APEX facility in Las Vegas. The event has no clear headliner as of this posting, but part of the card is the flyweight title fight between Deiveson Figueiredo and Brandon Moreno.