The aftermath of Petr Yan becoming the first fighter in UFC history to lose a title by disqualification has been fraught with questions about how it happened.
On the surface, it’s simple: Yan (15-2 MMA, 7-1 UFC) threw an illegal knee after the referee told him that Aljamain Sterling was in a downcast position during the fourth round of his fight for the bantamweight title at UFC 259 on Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas. The pound sterling (20-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) was heavily compromised with the blow, the fight was interrupted and the belt changed hands.
An additional layer emerged shortly afterwards, however, when questions arose about a potential misunderstanding with Yan’s corner. The Russian had several corner men speaking to him in different languages, and this could have caused the confusion behind his illegal action.
UFC broadcast partner ESPN posted pictures of the corner swap and, according to a translation from Russian into English by UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, one of Yan’s coaches told him that he hit Sterling with something other than punches while he was down (