After apologizing to Sterling, Petr Yan changes his speech and again accuses his rival of acting at UFC 259

P. Yan dominated part of the fight with A. Sterling, but was disqualified after an illegal knee. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram

After being disqualified and losing the belt in UFC 259, Petr Yan apologized to his rival, but appears to have changed his mind. Days after the illegal knee strike on aljamain sterling, which cost him the bantamweight title (up to 61,2kg.), the Russian insinuated that his rival staged an injury, suggesting that his opponent would be able to continue in the confrontation. In an interview with 'ESPN', the now former champion, pointed out his vision of the episode.

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“I was trying to understand what was happening. I rewatched the scene and noticed the referee (Mark Smith) tell the doctor that it was an illegal knee, saying (afterward) that he was going to disqualify me. Aljamain was sitting next to them. He was listening to everything the referee said to the doctor. Afterwards, we can see that Aljamain started to feel worse. So, he started lying on the floor,” Yan said.

For the Russian, Sterling valued the moment, understanding that he could benefit from Mark Smith's decision to interrupt the duel. Thus, Petr went further and stated that, based on the opponent's reactions, his reasoning explains the outcome.

“You could see that right after the knee he was trying to recover. From then on, I felt that he started to exaggerate, to act, because he listened to what the referee said. I feel like he (Aljamain) could have continued. It was his decision not to follow. First, he said he didn't remember what happened, then he began to explain. He gave an interview after the confrontation. To me, it's very obvious that he was aware of what was happening, what he was doing. It was his choice not to continue and win with a disqualification”, he fired.

Right after last weekend's show, the Ultimate president, Dana White, confirmed that there will be an immediate rematch between the fighters. Eager for the chance to regain his old title, Yan didn't hesitate and said he doesn't need much time to return to the octagon.

“They have already contacted me and asked when I will be ready to fight again. I said in a month or two. When they want. As I said, I was punished for what I did. I lost the belt, part of the pay-per-view and everything that comes with being the champion. (…) A rematch is the most logical thing to do”, he concluded.

The meeting between Petr and aljamain sterling It marked the Russian's first title defense. The athlete, who became bantamweight champion in July 2020, by beating José Aldo, ended up becoming the first fighter in UFC history to lose the title due to disqualification.

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