Aljamain Sterling is the new UFC weightlifting champion in the world, and it happened in one of the most unimaginable ways possible. Sterling defeats defending champion Petr Yan via disqualification after an illegal knee in the fourth round at UFC 259 in Las Vegas. The result was not satisfactory, not even for the winner after many entertaining actions.
Sterling quickly gets out at the gate, pushing with strikes and removal attempts from the opening bell. While Sterling continued to press, Yan patiently waited for the openings that would come as the fight continued. Yan displayed impressive wrestling skills, and many expected Sterling to be the toughest test the champion has ever had in the wrestling arena.
The end came in the fourth round, with Sterling clearly tired and Yan arriving strong, landing the tougher strikes and winning which had few meaningful wrestling innings there. While Sterling was trying to record a removal, he got stuck on the ground and sawed off with a knee touching the mat. Yan then releases a blatantly illegal knee, pushes Sterling in the face and knocks him to the mat despite referee Mark Smith telling Yan that Sterling was a ‘downed fighter’.
After Sterling was checked by the referee and the doctor, he was determined not to be able to continue. Since the offense was considered intentional, Sterling received the disqualification victory and the bantamweight championship.
The new champion was very emotional after the decision, while crying on the mat before the decision was announced, and again after being awarded the belt. Before Sterling left the Octagon, he took the championship belt off his waist and threw it on the canvas.
“Everything I’ve worked for up to this point and to make the fight go that way,” Sterling said after the fight. “I thought the fight was very close, I thought I was two rounds down. It was not the way I wanted to win. It was not the way I imagined it. I just took the tape off. I tried to stay even that way, I was in a bad state and it would have just taken over ego and just to get further punishment.The judge told me I was off.I do not know.I understand that there is a little heat, a little bad blood, but it’s all competition … “
Sterling is the first fighter in UFC history to win a championship via disqualification.
Can’t get enough boxing and MMA? Get the latest in the world of martial arts from two of the best in the business. Sign up for Morning Kombat with Luke Thomas and Brian Campbell for the best analysis and in-depth news, including immediate analysis of UFC 259 immediately after the PPV finishes.
Sterling added a bit more intrigue to the end, although Yan apparently established himself as the man with the momentum, after three rounds Sterling was ahead 29-28 on one of the official scorecards. Yan was 29-28 on the other two. The struggle, before the strike, was still in the battle.
“I wanted to keep going. The fight was fast, it was a lot of action, I know the fans enjoyed it,” Sterling said. “It could have been one of the fights of the year or one of the biggest bantamweight fights in history for the title. The action was unstoppable up to that point.”
During the UFC broadcast, the newly retired UFC lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, said that one of Yan’s Russian-speaking angels had told Yan to drop the knee, at which point the fighter unleashed the illegal blow.
Yan posted on social media after the fight to apologize for the illegal strike he claims he did not intend to throw. “I made a big mistake and paid for it,” Yan said.
Uana President Dana White said they plan to meet next week to try to discuss the second chance when Sterling is medically approved. He also believed Yan deliberately threw the knee.
“I think it was a lot of fatigue and frustration. The thing is, he started turning it on,” White said. “He started winning the fight and won the fight absolutely positively. You could see Aljamain Sterling breaking. Why did he throw the knee? I have no idea.”