UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has teased his rival Petr Yan by unveiling his new title belt.

Over the course of the last few years Aljamain Sterling has been focused on one man and one man only: Petr Yan. ‘No Mercy’ was the reigning, defending champion at 135 pounds and many felt as if he could hold onto the belt for a long time.

That is until the incident happened.

At UFC 259 in March 2021, an illegal knee from Yan handed the belt to Aljamain Sterling. ‘Funk Master’ proceeded to tease the Russian and wind him up relentlessly until finally, they got the chance to settle their differences once and for all in a rematch at UFC 273.

This time around, to the surprise of many, Sterling was able to get the job done the old-fashioned way as he edged past Yan via split decision thanks to some sensational grappling and control work.

While the two have seemingly buried the hatchet for now, Aljo couldn’t help but ‘thank’ his rival after he received a new championship belt with two rubies on it to signal his two title victories.

“See this? Two rubies! Thank you Petr Yan, and thank you Petr Yan again [laughs].”

“I just got the belt, got my new rubies added into the buckle that you put in. It was like a tear, so I thought the UFC didn’t love me, I thought they gave me the bootleg belt, because of the way I won the first one. But it turns out they do love me. They fixed it. So, thank you guys, I appreciate you, and this is the Jamaican flag. Solid.”

The next chapter

As Yan continues to feud with the likes of Sean O’Malley and Henry Cejudo on Twitter, Aljamain Sterling is busy preparing to defend the belt for the second time.

The next challenger is expected to be former king TJ Dillashaw who is coming off the back of a controversial win of his own against Cory Sandhagen. Some don’t believe he deserves the opportunity to go after the gold again but if there’s anyone who will relish the chance to shut him up, it’s going to be Sterling.