Petr Yan won his sixth straight UFC bantamweight contest in December 2019 when he knocked out Urijah Faber via head kick. That victory scored him a shot at the vacant bantamweight crown. His opponent in that July 2020 matchup was former featherweight titleholder Jose Aldo.
Yan put on a fantastic performance that night in Abu Dhabi. He stopped Aldo with ground strikes late in the fifth round. With that he claimed the 135-pound title and extended his bantamweight winning streak to a record-tying seven straight fights.
On Saturday, Yan puts his winning streak and title on the line against Aljamain Sterling, who enters this scrap with five straight wins in the 135-pound division.
Yan and Sterling meet on the pay-per-view portion of UFC 259, which takes place March 6 at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The pay-per-view card streams on ESPN+. The title fight is one of three on the card. In the co-main event, women’s featherweight champ Amanda Nunes faces Megan Anderson. In the headliner, UFC middleweight champ Israel Adesanya looks to become a two-division champion when he faces light heavyweight kingpin Jan Blachowicz.
Below is a look at where the two fighters appear in the UFC record book.
UFC 259: Yan vs. Sterling record rundown
| Petr Yan | Aljamain Sterling |
|---|---|
| Petr Yan | Aljamain Sterling |
| Overall UFC records | Overall UFC records |
| Yan ranks seventh in UFC history in striking differential at plus 3.07 | Sterling ranks ninth in UFC history at plus 2.88 |
| Overall UFC bantamweight records | Overall UFC bantamweight records |
| Yan is tied for fourth in UFC bantamweight history with four knockout wins | Sterling is tied for eighth in UFC bantamweight history with 13 fights |
| Yan is tied for first for longest winning streak in UFC bantamweight history at seven straight victories | Sterling ranks fourth in UFC bantamweight history with 10 wins |
| Yan is tied for third in knockdowns landed in UFC bantamweight history with eight | Sterling is tied for sixth in UFC bantamweight history with five finishes |
| Yan ranks second in UFC bantamweight history with 1.3 knockdowns per 15 minutes | Sterling is tied for third in UFC bantamweight history with four submission wins |
| Yan ranks eighth in UFC bantamweight history in significant strikes landed with 585 | Sterling is tied for third in UFC bantamweight history with five decision wins |
| Yan ranks sixth in UFC bantamweight history with a significant striking accuracy of 50.8 percent | Sterling is tied for fifth in UFC bantamweight history with a five-fight winning streak |
| Yan ranks fourth in UFC bantamweight history with 6.32 significant strikes landed per 15 minutes | Sterling ranks seventh in UFC bantamweight history with a total fight time of 2:31:36 |
| Yan ranks first in UFC bantamweight history with a striking differential of plus 3.07 | Sterling ranks fourth in UFC bantamweight history with 45:34 of control time |
| Yan ranks ninth in UFC bantamweight history in total strikes landed with 725 | Sterling ranks sixth in UFC bantamweight history with 30:17 of top position time |
| Yan ranks fourth in UFC bantamweight history with a takedown defense of 88 percent. | Sterling ranks fourth in UFC bantamweight history with 732 significant strikes landed |
| Sterling ranks 10th in UFC bantamweight history with a significant striking accuracy of 50 percent | |
| Sterling ranks third in UFC bantamweight history with a plus 2.82 striking differential | |
| Sterling ranks ninth in UFC bantamweight history in significant striking defense at 65.6 percent | |
| Sterling ranks sixth in UFC bantamweight history with 2.01 strikes absorbed per minute | |
| Sterling ranks second in UFC bantamweight history with 1,102 total strikes landed | |
| Sterling ranks eighth in UFC bantamweight history with 20 takedowns landed | |
| Sterling is tied for fourth in UFC bantamweight history with 11 submission attempts | |
| UFC bantamweight single fight records | UFC bantamweight single fight records |
| Yan has the seventh latest KO in a UFC bantamweight fight at 3:24 of Round 5 vs. Jose Aldo on 7-11-20 | Sterling ranks eighth in fastest submission in a UFC bantamweight fight at 1:28 vs. Cory Sandhagen on 6-6-20 |
| Yan is tied for first in knockdowns in one UFC bantamweight fight with three vs. Urijah Faber on 12-14-19 | Sterling ranks fourth in latest knockout in a UFC bantamweight fight at 3:50 of Round 3 vs. Hugo Viana on 7-16-14 |
| Yan ranks second in striking differential in one UFC bantamweight fight at plus 111 vs. Jose Aldo on 7-11-20 | Sterling ranks sixth in striking differential in one UFC bantamweight fight at plus 77 vs. Jimmie Rivera on 2-17-19 |
| Yan ranks first in significant strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 194 vs. Jose Aldo on 7-11-20 | Sterling ranks second in significant strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 174 vs. Pedro Munhoz on 6-8-19 |
| Yan is tied for ninth in significant strikes attempted in one UFC bantamweight fight with 309 vs. Jose Aldo on 7-11-20 | Sterling ranks sixth in significant strikes attempted in one UFC bantamweight fight with 349 vs. Pedro Munhoz on 6-8-19 |
| Yan ranks first in significant ground strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 86 vs. Jose Aldo on 7-11-20 | Sterling ranks second in significant heaad strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 150 vs. Pedro Munhoz on 6-8-19 |
| Yan ranks first in significant head strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 150 vs. Jose Aldo on 7-11-20 | Sterling ranks second in significant body strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 46 vs. Augusto Mendes on 4-15-17 |
| Yan ranks first in total strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 258 vs. Jose Aldo on 7-11-20 | Sterling is tied for sixth in significant body strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 39 vs. Jimmie Rivera on 2-17-19 |
| Yan ranks fourth in total strikes attempted in one UFC bantamweight fight with 376 vs. Jose Aldo on 7-11-20 | Sterling ranks ninth in significant body strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 37 vs. Brett Johns on 4-21-18 |
| Yan ranks sixth in total ground strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 150 vs. Jose Aldo on 7-11-20 | Sterling is tied for 10th in significant body strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 36 vs. Pedro Munhoz on 6-8-19 |
| Yan ranks first in total head strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 200 vs. Jose Aldo on 7-11-20 | Sterling is tied for sixth in significant body strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 39 vs. Jimmie Rivera on 2-17-19 |
| Sterling ranks eighth in total strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 175 vs. Pedro Munhoz on 6-8-19 | |
| Sterling is tied for sixth in total strikes attempted in one UFC bantamweight fight with 350 vs. Pedro Munhoz on 6-8-19 | |
| Sterling ranks ninth in total head strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 124 vs. Pedro Munhoz on 6-8-19 | |
| Sterling ranks fourth in total body strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 84 vs. Augusto Mendes on 4-15-17 | |
| Sterling ranks seventh in total body strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight fight with 61 vs. Cody Gibson on 2-22-14 | |
| UFC bantanweight single round records | UFC bantanweight single round records |
| Yan is tied for third with 62 significant strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight round vs. Jose Aldo on 7-11-20 – Round 5 | Sterling ranks second with 64 significant strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight round vs. Pedro Munhoz on 6-8-19 – Rd 3 |
| Yan ranks second with 113 total strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight round vs. Jose Aldo on 7-11-20 – Round 5 | Sterling is tied for third with 62 significant strikes landed in one UFC bantamweight round vs. Pedro Munhoz on 6-8-19 – Rd 2 |
| Sterling ranks second with 137 significant strikes attempted in one UFC bantamweight round vs. Pedro Munhoz on 6-8-19 – Rd 3 | |
| Sterling ranks third with 138 total strikes attempted in one UFC bantamweight round vs. Pedro Munhoz on 6-8-19 – Rd 3 | |
| Sterling is tied for third with three submission attempts in one UFC bantamweight round vs. Cody Gibson on 2-22-14 – Round 3 | |
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