Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling issue statements following their title fight at UFC 259

Tonight’s UFC 259 main card featured a men’s bantamweight title fight between reigning champion Petr Yan and top contender Aljamain Sterling.

Yan (15-2 MMA) had captured the promotions vacant bantamweight title at UFC 251 after scoring a fifth round TKO victory over MMA legend Jose Aldo. That win had marked the Russian’s tenth in a row and seventh straight under the UFC banner.

Meanwhile, Aljamain Sterling (20-3 MMA) had entered tonight’s UFC 259 event on five-fight win streak, his latest being a first round submission victory over top contender Cory Sandhagen at UFC 250. ‘Funkmaster‘ had not suffered defeat since being starched by Marlon Moraes in December of 2017.

Tonight’s UFC 259 men’s bantamweight title fight proved to be a wild back and forth affair. After a good opening round from Aljamain Sterling, Petr Yan began to turn the tide in his favor in round two. The Russian champion appeared to be on route to a possible finish but then landed an illegal knee on ‘Funkmaster’ in Round 4 which unfortunately spelled an end to the fight.

Due to the disqualification, and that the illegal strike was deemed intentional, Aljamain Sterling was awarded the victory and thus became the promotions new bantamweight champion.

‘Funkmaster’ took to social media where he addressed his controversial victory at UFC 259:

Not the way I ever want to win a fight. It was close, competitive and filled with action. I felt the knee was intentional, especially after the ref announced I was a downed opponent, so I didn’t expect to be hit.
Yan is a bad dude! WE WILL DO IT AGAIN!#UFC259

— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) March 7, 2021

“Not the way I ever want to win a fight. It was close, competitive and filled with action. I felt the knee was intentional, especially after the ref announced I was a downed opponent, so I didn’t expect to be hit. Yan is a bad dude! WE WILL DO IT AGAIN!” – Sterling wrote.

Petr Yan shortly followed suit by addressing his UFC 259 title loss with the following statement:

I apologize and wish speedy recovery to @funkmasterMMA I didn’t mean to throw an illegal strike, I just made a big mistake and paid for it.

— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) March 7, 2021

“I apologize and wish speedy recovery to @funkmasterMMA. I didn’t mean to throw an illegal strike, I just made a big mistake and paid for it.” – Yan wrote.

One can only assume that Dana White and company will look to book an immediate rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan following tonight’s controversial outcome at UFC 259.