UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling has accused Petr Yan of using illegal tactics during their razor-close title fight on Saturday night.
Sterling defended his belt by winning a tight split decision against Yan in their rematch, after the Russian had been disqualified for an illegal knee the first time they fought. Sterling looked significantly improved in their second bout, and although the decision proved controversial, he has left little doubt that he deserves to be champion.
That's despite what he says were dirty tactics from Petr Yan, who he believes was having water poured on him in such a way between rounds that he would become slippery. That would be an illegal move, but he was not pulled up for the activity during the fight.
"For round four, I took him down and they didn't score my takedown and I jumped his back," Sterling told MMA Junkie after the fight. "I shouldn't have done that. I should've just broke him down regularly and not be cool and get style points, which I want to get style points, but you know, we're slippery.
"He did pour a lot of water on his head in between those rounds, which I don't even know... That's not legal. I don't know how they didn't dry him off. But I slipped off the top and I accepted the bottom position instead of trying to get up. I could have gotten up."
One particular critic of the fight's scoring was UFC president Dana White. The outspoken promotional boss believed that Yan had done enough to win three of the rounds, as did one judge.
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But Sterling argues that White will never be complimentary towards him, and was likely frustrated that Yan, a dangerous fighter who has been heavily promoted by the company, lost to a seasoned grappler. "Dana’s always going to be throwing dirt on my name," Sterling added in an interview with BJPenn.com.
"That’s just what he does. I think he has Yan rated so highly, he’s such a dangerous guy, and to have the grappler do that to him, he was really, really shocked. Especially after the first fight because he probably thought I had no chance in hell of winning that fight either."
The three judges scoring the bout at the fight in Florida agreed on Sterling winning the second and third rounds, as well as Yan winning rounds four and five. But it was the first that caused controversy with Sal D'Amato and Eliseo Rodriguez giving Sterling the nod, while Christopher Lee went with Yan.
The Russian disagreed with all three of them, arguing that he had also won the second, which was a universally unpopular claim. “I want a rematch," Yan said immediately after the fight. "I want a rematch. I won the first round. I won the second round. Four of five rounds, I won. I want a rematch."
