How Aljamain Sterling Became a UFC Champion Without Winning His Title Fight

Saturday’s UFC 259 card highlighted various interesting bouts between fighters, with one fight being incredibly climactic. 

Although the premier events, including that between Adesanya and Blachowicz, are certainly ones to remember, the night’s most memorable moment came during the Bantamweight championship match between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling. 

After recently winning the vacant belt in a blowout against the legendary José Aldo, Petr Yan was seeking to defend his newfound title. Aljamain Sterling, the #1 ranked contender in the world, came into the fight with hopes of improving to 20-3 as a pro fighter and taking home a piece of UFC gold. 

Headed into the fourth round, the average viewer would’ve placed Petr Yan as the leader by two rounds. Aljamain Sterling started strong, wavering Yan with relentless pressure, but began to show significant fatigue signs as the fight continued. 

A couple of minutes later, Petr Yan began to pull away, eventually taking the dominant position over his challenger and seemingly doing everything right. That is, however, until he listened to his corner. 

With Aljamain Sterling left vulnerable and exhausted on his knees, Petr Yan delivered what can only be quantified as one of the most dangerous (and illegal) things that a fighter can do. Supposedly because of his corner telling him to continue striking, he hit Aljamain Sterling with a brutal knee to the head, sending him sprawling to the floor. 

Such a strike with the potential to end a fighter’s career was obviously illegal and led to the disqualification of the now former champion. There’s no question as to whether Petr Yan deserved the disqualification or not. Still, fans wonder whether a new world champion should be allowed to be crowned via disqualification in such a one-sided fight. 

Aljamain Sterling, while fighting valiantly, was clearly outmatched by his opponent but ended up becoming the new Bantamweight champion anyways. Even after hearing that he’d won, he sunk to the ground in tears and later testified that he didn’t want to win off of a technicality. The sadness continued as he refused to wear his newfound belt when announced as the victor.

Though Petr Yan may not deserve it, the two could find a rematch together sometime soon, and it may be one of the most exciting grudges UFC matches of all time.