The fall of Petr Yan becoming the first fighter in UFC history to lose the title by disqualification is full of doubts about how it happened.
Superficially, it’s simple: Yan (15-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) took an illegal knee after being informed by the referee that Aljamain Sterling was down during the fourth round of his fight for the cock title at UFC 259 on Saturday at UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Sterling (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) was very committed to the blow, the fight was dismissed and the belt changed hands.
An additional layer emerged shortly after that, however, when questions arose about a possible misunderstanding with Yan’s corner. The Russian had several cornermen speaking to him in different languages, and this could have caused confusion behind his illegal action.
ESPN, the UFC’s broadcast partner, released images of the corner switch and, according to a translation made from Russian to English by UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, one of Yan’s coaches told him to hit Sterling with something other than punches while on the floor (via