“The Guy Was Frustrated”- Aljamain Sterling Says Petr Yan Believed He Could Do More Damage and Get Away With Illegal Strikes at UFC 259

Aljamain Sterling has a point to prove at UFC 273 in his title defense against Petr Yan. Both share a fierce rivalry ever since they made their UFC 259 fight official. They would look to settle scores in this rematch, as things weren’t as conclusive the last time around.

Sterling came out victorious at UFC 259 via disqualification. It looked like a close fight till the incident in round 4, where Sterling was on down on his knees after a failed attempted takedown. Despite a warning from referee Mark Smith, the then bantamweight champion struck Sterling’s head with his knee.

The referee deemed the strike illegal, and it injured challenger Aljamain Sterling. As a result, they stopped the fight after the cage-side doctor intervened. ‘Funk Master’ became the first fighter in UFC history to win the title with a disqualification and didn’t seem rather happy about it.

The American MMA fighter recently opened up on the incident on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani. Sterling began speaking about the incident and looked frustrated as he said,

“Here’s my other issue. So I’m gonna tee this up for the casuals out there. There’s rules that we get in the backroom. There’s rules that we know going into this sport. We agree upon them.”

‘Funk Master’ was targeting his critics who believe he isn’t the deserving champion. He then explained the incident in detail and pointed fingers at Yan, who pleaded innocent after the match.

Sterling added, “In the fight, I’m down on my knees, you knee me in the head when I come up – Legal. Then we get back to that same position. You wait six seconds, the ref tells you at the beginning of that six seconds that he’s a downed opponent. You speak English at the press conference, you speak English when we’re face to face, now all of a sudden you don’t understand that downed means he’s a downed opponent and you can’t throw knees to the head.”

According to Sterling, ‘No Mercy’ intentionally ignored the referee’s warning in frustration. He also admitted that if not for the disqualification, he might have lost the bout.

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“The guy’s not looking and you throw an illegal knee six seconds later when you’re winning the fight at that point. Why not let that guy up? That’s all I want people to understand – why not let that guy up and continue to do the damage and the carnage that you were doing since you’re so great,” Sterling explained stormily.

“You know, so make that make sense. The guy [Petr Yan] was frustrated. He thought he’s gonna get away with one and that’s really what it comes down to. He thought he was going to be able to do more damage and make an illegal strike and get away with it.” 

The 32-year-old fighter concluded by simply thanking the doctors for not letting the fight continue. Had it continued, it may have resulted in him suffering more serious damage.

Aljamain Sterling makes bold prediction ahead of UFC 273

After an unsatisfying title win over Russian-born Petr Yan, ‘Funk Master’ is prepared to prove his detractors wrong. The American fighter is making his first title defense against the very opponent he snatched the belt from.

As many MMA fans played down his previous win via disqualification, Sterling wants to establish clear dominance this time around. Along similar lines, he recently made a bold yet confident prediction about the rematch.

On Twitter, a fan prophesied ‘Funk Master’ to win by submission in the third round of the UFC 273 co-main event. 

However, the 135 lbs champ was quick to correct the fan and rather predicted a first-round submission win over the current interim champion.

WATCH THIS STORY: Five times Petr Yan showed ‘No Mercy’ with his dominant performances

Who will win the UFC 273 rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan in Jacksonville? Let us know in the comments down below.