The fallout from Petr Yan becoming the first fighter in UFC history to lose a title by disqualification has beed riddled with questions about how it happened.
On the surface, it’s simple: Yan (15-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) threw an illegal knee after being told by the referee that Aljamain Sterling was in a downed position during the fourth round of their bantamweight title fight at UFC 259 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. Sterling (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) was badly compromised from the blow, the fight was waved off and the belt changed hands.
An additional layer emerged shortly thereafter, however, when questions arose about a potential misunderstanding with Yan’s corner. The Russian had multiple cornermen speaking to him in different languages, and that could’ve stirred the confusion behind his illegal action.
UFC broadcast partner ESPN released footage of the corner exchange, and according to a translation made from Russian to English by UFC champ Khabib Nurmagomedov, one of Yan’s coaches told him to hit Sterling with something other than punches while down (via Instagram):
Yan, for his part, cleared the air on the situation. He was asked directly about whether the signals coming from outside the octagon prompted him to throw the knee, and he did not place blame on his team for his blunder.
“To be honest, I didn’t really understand what they were telling me,” Yan told reporters, including MMA Junkie, through an interpreter at the UFC 259 post-fight news conference. “I was just focused on the hand, and throwing the knee when he will be up.”
Petr Yan’s corner cam footage released after DQ title loss to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259
