But that didn't stop Yan, who threw a knee which left his American challenger flat on the canvas and all-but knocked out. Sterling had pressed the pace early on, forcing Yan to eat a flying knee amid a frantic start from the challenger. Sterling defeated defending champion Petr Yan via disqualification after an illegal knee in the fourth round at UFC 259 in Las Vegas. Yan … An illegal knee in the fourth round saw Yan lose his title to Aljamain Sterling when he was ahead on the scorecards 29-28, 29-28, 28-29. 1 and … Yan and Sterling came in ranked Nos. Yan responds with a body shot and connects with a left soon after. The judges had Yan ahead 29-28, 29-28, 28-29 going into the fourth, a round Yan was convincingly winning before the illegal knee. Petr Yan committed a terrible mistake in his fight against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259 that cost him the UFC title. Body shots by Sterling. Sterling was dazed and remained on his back for well over three minutes. Yan with a leg kick as Sterling remains on the mat. Yan slips and his body kick lands. Vicious right hand by Yan. Good stuff there for the challenger. Yan is the aggressor now. Yan landed some hard left and right hands in the fourth round, leading into the odd finish. ... savage knee to Sterling’s pretty much unguarded head. Yan had weathered the storm however, reminding Sterling of his own power by dropping him with a guided missile of a right-hand as the champion appeared to shade a … Petr Yan sent shockwaves through the UFC world on Saturday after he was disqualified for an illegal knee to the head in his UFC 259 clash against Aljamain Sterling. Sterling was grounded at the time, with Yan driving his knee straight into his head. Petr Yan lost the UFC bantamweight championship on Saturday night after illegally kneeing Aljamain Sterling while he was down on one knee. Knee to the body by Yan as Sterling gets back up. In the fourth round , Yan, who appeared to be winning the fight up that point, hit Sterling with an illegal knee while Sterling was still on the ground. Yan and Sterling were four rounds into their Bantamweight clash when the Russian fighter made the illegal move. 'No Mercy' was informed by the referee that Sterling was on the floor, meaning he could not be hit. Yan and Sterling were in the fourth round of their bantamweight fight at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nev. Sterling had a leg on the mat when Yan drilled him with a knee to the head. He defends a takedown and lands a knee on Sterling.