For two UFC events in a row, we’ve seen illegal knee strikes end fights prematurely. The first one happened at UFC 259 between bantamweights Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling. A week later, middleweight Eryk Anders and Darren Stewart were involved in the same predicament.
The difference, however, was in the fight result. Yan vs. Sterling ended in a DQ win for the latter, while Anders vs. Stewart ended in a No Contest verdict.
So what was the difference? Here’s the explanation provided by UFC Vice President for Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner.
“In the Yan fight, Mark Smith was the referee, and he felt that the knee was intentional,” Ratner told MMA Junkie Radio.