A highly anticipated bantamweight title fight between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling has been scrapped from UFC 256 on Dec. 12 in Las Vegas.
Sources close to the situation confirmed to MMA Fighting on Sunday that the bout was no longer taking place at the December pay-per-view with plans to reschedule the fight for a later date. MMA Island first reported the news.
While details remain sketchy it appears Yan was forced out of the fight due to “personal reasons.” There is hope that Yan vs. Sterling could be rescheduled as early as February but nothing has been confirmed just yet.
UFC 256 previously lost a different title fight when featherweight champion Amanda Nunes was forced out of her planned matchup against Megan Anderson.
The bantamweight title fight falling off UFC 256 also begins to explain the urgency the promotion had in booking two high-profile bouts for the same card in recent days.
After submitting Alex Perez in the UFC 255 main event, flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo agreed to face Brandon Moreno just 21 days later at UFC 256 in December. While the fight hasn’t been finalized, both Figueiredo and Moreno have verbally agreed to the date.
Meanwhile, former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson was also booked for a fight against Charles Oliveira in a high-profile matchup added to UFC 256 in recent days. Ferguson had been asking to compete again this year and ultimately it was Oliveira who accepted the fight on Dec. 12.
It appears now with Yan vs. Sterling scrapped that Figueiredo vs. Moreno will headline UFC 256 with Ferguson vs. Oliveira on tap for the co-main event.
