"I thought it was a joke" - Aljamain Sterling doesn't agree with the narrative that Petr Yan dominated their fight

Petr Yan lost his UFC bantamweight title to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259 after landing an illegal knee.

The two locked horns in one of three title fights at UFC 259. According to several fans and MMA experts, the scales were tilted in Petr Yan's favor before he landed a knee on Aljamain Sterling in the fourth round. The knee was an illegal strike because the referee had declared Aljamain Sterling a 'downed opponent'. As a result, the fight was stopped and the doctor was called in to check on the challenger.

Aljamain Sterling is the NEW UFC Bantamweight Champion after this illegal knee disqualified Petr Yan #UFC259pic.twitter.com/lQ6ITgu9ip

— Spinnin Backfist (@SpinninBackfist) March 7, 2021

Aljamain Sterling failed to recover from the blow and the fight was waived off via disqualification. The bantamweight belt changed hands as per the rules. However, Aljamain Sterling refused to agree with the common consensus that Petr Yan was winning the fight before the illegal knee landed.

Aljamain Sterling recently took to Twitter, taking a shot at Petr Yan's claim that he was winning. Petr Yan posted a fan-shared clip of a punch he had landed on Aljamain Sterling that sent the latter to the ground.

“You can’t hit what you can’t see” 🤦🏻‍♂️ https://t.co/VkzLt5nUEE

— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) March 15, 2021

Replying to the clip, Aljamain Sterling claimed it was the only good shot the former champion managed to land on the night, in addition to the illegal knee.

Your best shot of the night, outside of the knee. I got over confident after I hit you 20 times and you couldn’t hit me. I thought it was a joke. You surprised me there. Good shot https://t.co/UoMitBNhOc

— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) March 15, 2021

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Petr Yan on Aljamain Sterling: It was his decision to get a disqualification win

Petr Yan agrees with the narrative that suggests he was the clear winner before he was disqualified over the illegal knee. He said in an interview with Ariel Helwani that Aljamain Sterling chose to become the new bantamweight champion via disqualification rather than continuing to fight.

"You can see. After the knee landed, he was trying to recover. But then I feel like he started to exaggerate, he started acting. Because he heard what the referee said. I feel like he could've continued but he chose not to. First, he claimed he doesn't remember what happened and then he started explaining what happened. Then he is doing interviews after the fight and tell what was going on. So for me, he was very well aware of what was going on and what he was doing. It was his decision to get a disqualification win," Petr Yan's translator said.

Petr Yan also accused the Nevada State Athletic Commission of double standards in a now-deleted tweet. This came after Eryk Anders landed a similar illegal knee on Darren Stewart at Fight Night the following week, but instead of being disqualified, the bout was ruled a 'no contest'.