Aljamain Sterling Makes Bold Comparison Between Petr Yan and Jose Aldo Following Teammate Merab Dvalishvili’s Win at UFC Vegas 71

Merab Dvalishvili had a successful outing at UFC Vegas 71. He overcame his toughest test yet after defeating former bantamweight champion Petr Yan via unanimous decision. Moreover, Yan’s performance prompted a tweet that stated that UFC legend Jose Aldo had better takedown defense against ‘The Machine’ than the Russian fighter. But Dvalishvili’s training partner, Aljamain Sterling, has a different take on that comment.

Dvalishvili was relentless throughout his bout against Petr Yan. He was fast-paced and had superior cardiovascular conditioning. ‘The Machine’ was constantly going for takedowns but also landed great shots at the former bantamweight champion. Dvalishvili is now on a 9-fight winning streak.

Many fans on the internet were skeptical of Petr Yan’s takedown defense and a Twitter page posted, “Really makes you respect Jose Aldo’s takedown defense even more.” They mentioned Yan’s lack of takedown defense in comparison to Aldo’s against Dvalishvili. ‘No Mercy’ was constantly trying to set up strikes while trying to avoid Dvalishvili’s takedown attempts. However, bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has a different take on Aldo’s takedown defense.

Aljamain Sterling believes accepted losing against Petr Yan

UFC Hall of Fame inductee, Jose Aldo, was known for his amazing record of takedown defense. Some people on Twitter claim he had a better showing against Merab Dvalishvili than Petr Yan. But Dvalishvili’s training partner, Aljamain Sterling, claims that the legendary Brazilian accepted his loss to Dvalishvili during their fight at UFC 278.

He replied to the tweet earlier and wrote, “Not an accurate take IMHO, respectfully. If you sit on the cage and opt not to attempt to escape, your TDD could look like [Jose] Aldo’s with basic fundamentals.” Sterling claims that Aldo didn’t want to engage with Dvalishvili during their fight. And that is the reason why he chose to sit by the cage while ‘The Machine’ was actively looking to take him down.

But the bantamweight champion claims that the Russian was trying to go head-on against Dvalishvili by moving around the cage, and taking out the Georgian fighter. “Yan actually tried to get off the cage and move. That leaves you open to more TDs. But what do I know,” wrote Sterling.

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Petr Yan showed more of an offensive mentality than Jose Aldo against the surging Georgian fighter. However, Yan has found himself losing three fights in a row. This has put his UFC career in a predicament. But Dvalishvili will look to carry his winning momentum to his next fight.

What are your thoughts on Aljamain Sterling’s comments on Jose Aldo? Let us know in the comments below.

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