History was made Saturday at UFC 259 when Petr Yan became the first UFC champion to lose his title by disqualification.
Yan dropped the bantamweight belt to Aljamain Sterling after connecting with an illegal knee to the head in the fourth round of their fight, a strike that was prohibited while Sterling was in a grounded state. The blow rocked Sterling to the extent that it was eventually ruled that he could not continue, making him the new champion at 135 pounds.
Reactions have been coming in from all corners of the MMA community, with comments ranging from criticism of Yan’s costly gaffe, condemnation of Sterling’s inability to continue fighting, and questioning of whether leg strikes to a grounded opponent should even be illegal in the first place.