The first title fight of the iconic UFC 259 card was off to a fantastic start, with challenger Aljamain Sterling pushing the pace against Petr Yan.

Aljamain was clearly slowing down after his early adrenaline dump, but was just narrowly behind on the scorecards heading into the fourth round.

Yan started strong and was looking like he was en route to victory, before he landed a massive illegal knee which ended the bout. Sterling was clearly hurt from the blatantly illegal strike and the doctor rightfully refused to let the fight continue. This led to Yan being stripped of the title and Sterling awarded the victory.

After crowned in the Octagon, Sterling immediately threw the belt away from himself, clearly not getting the victory in the way he wanted.

The full extent of Sterling’s injury is unknown at this time, but we extend our best wishes to him in hopes of a speedy recovery.

Fight fans can surely expect that this fight will be run back in an even bigger and better fashion after both fighters (particularly Sterling) are given some time.