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Petr Yan has taken to Twitter to issue a public apology to newly-crowned Bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling after hitting him with an illegal knee during their fight at UFC 259.
The Russian wished a speedy recovery to Sterling and also acknowledged that he made a huge mistake and had to pay for it.
"I apologize and wish speedy recovery to @funkmasterMMA. I didn’t mean to throw an illegal strike, I just made a big mistake and paid for it," said Petr Yan on his Twitter account.
Yan was fighting phenomenally until the unfortunate incident happened. The Russian was ahead on the scorecards of two judges and there was only one round left when Yan hit Sterling with the illegal strike. The knee that landed flush on The Funkmaster's temple left him badly concussed and unable to continue.
As a result, Aljamain Sterling became the new UFC Bantamweight champion via DQ. The new titleholder didn't look happy to win the Championship in this manner and left the belt inside the octagon before stepping out of the cage.
Following the fight, Daniel Cormier said that Khabib Nurmagomedov told him Yan's corner asked him to hit Sterling with the illegal shot.
Petr Yan explains why he hit Aljamain Sterling with an illegal knee
However, Petr Yan refuted the claims, saying he did not hear anyone from his corner telling him to throw the knee. Explaining why he hit Sterling with the illegal knee, the Russian said that the pre-fight instructions were so focused on the hands of a ground opponent, he didn't check Sterling's knee. He assumed it was raised.
Whatever be the reason, Petr Yan will be very disappointed with the outcome of the fight. His gameplan was working perfectly and he was picking Sterling apart. There were only 30 seconds left in the fourth round when Yan hit Sterling with the illegal knee that ended the fight and cost him his title.
Do you want to see a rematch between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling? Sound off in the comments.
