Petr Yan vs. Cory Sandhagen set for interim bantamweight title fight at UFC 267

An interim bantamweight champion will be crowned at UFC 267 as Petr Yan is expected to clash with Cory Sandhagen in the co-main event on Oct. 30.

Multiple sources close to the situation confirmed that verbal agreements are in place for the fight after UFC president Dana White announced the booking to ESPN.

The interim title fight came together after reigning bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling was not medically cleared to compete following neck surgery earlier this year. Sterling initially asked for a later date for the rematch after his first fight against Yan ended in a disqualification when the Russian hit him with an illegal knee strike.

Unfortunately, Sterling is still recovering from his surgery and won’t be able to compete in October.

With Sterling out, the UFC immediately shifted gears to book an interim title fight with Sandhagen as the leading candidate after he lost a razor-close split decision to former champion T.J. Dillashaw in his last outing.

Prior to that loss, Sandhagen had won back-to-back fights with spectacular knockouts over Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar.

Now Sandhagen will face off with Yan with an interim title on the line, with the winner then moving onto meet Sterling to unify the bantamweight championship.

Yan vs. Sterling will join the UFC 267 card as the co-headliner behind the main event, which features light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz taking on Glover Teixeira.