Was UFC 259 the first time a UFC title has changed hands because of a DQ due to an illegal strike?

UFC 259 was the first time a UFC title has changed hands because of a DQ due to an illegal strike. UFC 259 saw only one new champion as both Jan Blachowicz and Amanda Nunes successfully defended their titles. However, the bantamweight title bout resulted in a new champion as Aljamain Sterling won the belt from Petr Yan after the latter was disqualified due to an illegal strike.

Aljamain Sterling couldn't have asked for a better start to the fight as he came out as the clear aggresor in the first title bout at UFC 259. Petr Yan's midsection started to show some redness as Sterling landed a few body kicks. Sterling then connected a flying knee to Petr Yan's head even as the Russian maintained a high guard. After recovering from a flying knee followed by the first takedown of the fight, Petr Yan clipped Sterling with a right-hand that knocked him down.

Aljamain Sterling then resorted to his conventional plan of wrestling and spent the second round desperately looking for takedowns. While Sterling was majorly unsuccessful, he was able to keep Petr Yan at bay. It was in the third round that Yan truly seemed to have found his momentum while Sterling became sloppier with the takedown attempts.

CHAOS.Yan throws a strike that puts an end to this championship contest. #UFC259 pic.twitter.com/0LVSnRNvke

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) March 7, 2021

However, things would take a wild turn in the fourth round of the bantamweight title fight at UFC 259, as Petr Yan landed a knee to the head of a grounded Aljamain Sterling. Yan, who was winning the fight on two scorecards, surprised everyone with the illegal strike even as referee Mark Smith warned that his opponent was grounded.

Although Aljamain Sterling tried his best to recover from a concussion, the cageside doctor declared him unfit to fight. UFC 259 saw Aljamain Sterling become the first fighter in UFC history to win a title fight via disqualification.

Aljamain Sterling wasn't happy with the result of his title bout at UFC 259

Aljamain Sterling walked away, leaving the belt in the centre of the Octagon after being declared the winner. Even as the cageside doctor cut-short his post-fight interview, Aljamain Sterling told Joe Rogan:

“Everything I worked for to this point and to f*cking have the fight go like that. I thought the fight was very close, but I was down two rounds. That’s not the way I wanted to win. That’s not the way I envisioned this."