Fresh off what we can only imagine was a thoroughly satisfying win against Petr Yan, Aljamain Sterling looks to have been handed his next assignment.
According to an initial report from MMA Junkie, bantamweight champion Sterling will take on former titleholder T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 279 on September 10 next. The location of the event has not yet been set.
The fight will be Sterling’s second defence of the 135-pound title after initially winning it from Russia’s Yan due to disqualification in their first fight a little more than a year ago. Despite being the underdog in their rematch, Sterling won a close split decision to underscore his status as the pacesetter in the UFC bantamweight division.
The New Yorker has now won seven straight fights in the UFC.
Dillashaw, meanwhile, will be attempting to recapture the 135-pound title which was previously stripped of him after he failed a drugs test in the wake of an unsuccessful bid to win the flyweight crown from then-champ Henry Cejudo. He returned to the cage in July of last year where he won a split decision of his own against top contender Cory Sandhagen.
He suffered a knee injury in that bout which has kept him out of action since but is once again healthy and has, somewhat surpassingly to some, been handed another title opportunity just one fight removed from his two-year ban for ingesting the prohibited substance EPO.
