Aljamain Sterling Becomes Champion After Petr Yan Lands Illegal Knee

Next up on the UFC 259 main card is a bantamweight title fight between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling.

Round 1: Sterling opens with a body kick but misses a leg kick soon after. Sterling lands another body kick as he looks to put the pressure on early. Sterling continues to use a kick-heavy game. Sterling connects with a knee but Yan eats it. Sterling connects with a leg kick. Yan lands his own body kick. Yan catches a leg and trips Sterling but doesn’t enter his guard. Sterling gets up and it’s back to the feet. Sterling goes for a takedown and gets it with ease. Yan gets up and takes Sterling’s back and has him up against the fence. Sterling gets knocked down with a big right but gets to his feet soon after. Yan drops him again with a big right leg kick. Sterling gets up and looks to get Yan down. He threatens with a submission but Yan gets to his feet and lands a body kick. Yan takes Sterling’s back and takes him down. Sterling gets to his feet and lands some strikes to end the round.

Round 2: Sterling lands a body kick. Sterling slips and stays on the ground. Yan connects with some leg kicks. The referee stands Sterling up. Sterling puts the pressure and looks for a takedown. Yan defends it and has Sterling in a front head lock. Sterling continues to look for a takedown but Yan escapes. Sterling again looks for a takedown but Yan’s defense is holding up. They separate and return to striking. Sterling misses a spinning elbow. He misses a spinning backfist soon after with Yan taking him down and getting his back. The round ends with Yan landing some knees to the legs of Sterling.

Round 3: Sterling lands a body kick. Yan connects with a leg kick soon after. Sterling starts to employ jabs. Yan responds with a body shot and connects with a left soon after. He defends a takedown and lands a knee on Sterling. Yan is the aggressor now. Yan slips and his body kick lands. Yan is putting the pressure on but Sterling is still in it though he is considerably slower. Sterling looks for the takedown but Yan defends well throughout like he’s done for much of the fight. Sterling is now very tired as Yan is virtually ragdolling him. Sterling lands a couple of leg kicks to good effect though. The round ends with Yan taking Sterling down.

Round 4: Yan is putting the pressure on now but Sterling is still in it. Sterling is continuing to put volume but Yan is blocking and checking everything. Yan connects with a body kick. Sterling goes for another takedown but Yan defends with ease. Sterling misses a telegraphed spinning back kick. Yan lands a body kick and gets a straight left to land as well. Yan lands some more lefts and follows with a knee. Yan connects with a one two. Sterling eats it and attempts some head kicks. Sterling goes for a takedown but Yan has him down on the ground. Yan lands a knee while he’s downed which is illegal as the fight is momentarily stopped. The fight is called off.

Official result: Aljamain Sterling defeats Petr Yan via disqualification (R4, 4:29).