The aftermath of Petr Yan becoming the first fighter in UFC history to lose a title through disqualification is riddled with questions about how it happened.
At first glance, it’s simple: Yan (15-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) throws an illegal knee after the referee informed him that Aljamain Sterling was in a downed position during the fourth round of their bantamweight title fight UFC 259 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Sterling (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) was badly in the throes of the battle, the fight was fired and the belt changed hands.
However, an additional layer emerged shortly thereafter when questions arose about a possible misunderstanding with Yan’s corner. The Russian spoke to him several cornerbacks in different languages, and this could have caused the confusion behind his illegal actions.
UFC broadcasting partner ESPN has released footage of the corner exchange, and according to a translation by UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov from Russian to English, one of Yan’s coaches told him to hit Sterling with something other than punches while shooting was (via