UFC 273: Dana White says judges ‘blew that one’ in Petr Yan’s loss to Aljamain Sterling

UFC president feels Yan won three of five rounds against bantamweight champion in Jacksonville, Florida

White suggests former champ TJ Dillashaw will get next title shot, but says the Yan-Sterling trilogy ‘is going to be there’

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Aljamain Sterling celebrates after defeating Petr Yan in their UFC bantamweight championship fight at UFC 273. Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

Published: 2:38pm, 10 Apr 2022Updated: 12:23am, 11 Apr 2022

Dana White has criticised the judging in the UFC 273 main event, where Aljamain Sterling retained his bantamweight title with a split decision win over Petr Yan.

“Funk Master” silenced the doubters with a razor-close victory in the early hours of Sunday morning, in what was a heated rematch following last year’s controversial first meeting between the pair, when Sterling claimed the belt via disqualification.

Two judges awarded Sterling scores of 48-47 at Vystar Veterans Memorial Arena, while one judge gave the Russian challenger the same score.

The result ultimately came down to the first round of the fight, with two judges giving Sterling a 10-9, while the other gave the same score to Yan in Jacksonville, Florida.

Petr Yan punches Aljamain Sterling at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena. Photo: Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC

The three judges all agreed on the other four rounds of the five-round title fight, with the 32-year-old American Sterling winning the second and third, and “No Mercy” taking the fourth and fifth.