“I don’t respect him as a human being, nor as a fighter,” said Yan when asked if there is any respect that accompanies the hostility he feels towards Sterling.
The build to their initial meeting at UFC 259 was largely uneventful; a little of the standard trash talk and dismissal of the other man’s skills, promises of victory and the like, but nothing as pointed and sharp as Yan’s comment above.
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But the way that first bout ended — with Yan blasting Sterling with an illegal knee and being disqualified, losing the bantamweight title because the challenger was unable to continue — and then having to wait more than a year for the rematch to finally come together has turned the intensity on the rivalry up to the point that its blown the speakers.
And while Sterling has been complimentary of his rival’s skills in the build to Saturday’s second act, the interim champion has no interest in returning the kind words.
“It will feel good to put my hands on him and hurt him; it’s about time he will pay for everything he said,” Yan said, clearly bothered by the war of words that has been going on between the two since last March.
The public bickering between the two hasn’t been persistent, but more like sporadic showers, with periods of escalation leading into Saturday’s contest and back in October, when Sterling did not receive medial clearance to compete in a rematch, leading to Yan facing and defeating Cory Sandhagen in a bout for the interim title he carries with him into this weekend’s battle.
