It seems like Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan are destined to always have controversial fights.
In their first bout in 2021, Yan lost the bantamweight title when he hit Sterling with an illegal knee and was disqualified. Conventional wisdom says no one wants to win a championship on a disqualification, but Sterling became the titleholder nonetheless.
Once the two finally got a chance to meet again in the UFC 273 co-main event Saturday, they went the five-round distance. In a close fight, Sterling (21-3 MMA, 13-3 UFC) took a split decision from interim champ Yan (16-3 MMA, 8-2 UFC) to unify the belts.
