In their latest champion vs. champion fight, UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz defeated middleweight champion Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision to retain the title at UFC 259 in Las Vegas, NV.
The Polish-born fighter won two 49-45 cards with another at 49-46 in the first defense of the title he won in a victory over Dominic Reyes after Jon Jones vacated the title. Afterward, he said he wants to defend against top contender Glover Teixeira next.
Blachowicz’s size and ground game was too much for Adesanya in spots even though he managed to do damage and connect frequently using his speed. Afterward, he intimated he would like to fight at 205 pounds again but was focusing on defending his middleweight title next. This was the first loss of his MMA career.
In the first of three title fights, Aljamain Sterling made history by winning the UFC bantamweight title via DQ over Petr Yan due to an illegal knee strike in the fourth round. In the process, Sterling earned the distinction of becoming the first fighter in company history to win a title in that fashion.
While Sterling was competitive, Yan was fairly dominant as the fight wore on. As Sterling was on his knees, Yan threw a knee right up the middle that connected flush, hurting Sterling badly. After several minutes and two doctor visits, the referee finally called the fight off, initially leading to speculation as to whether it would be a DQ or a no contest.
After being awarded the belt, Sterling threw it down as he didn’t want it. Likely concussed, UFC still had Joe Rogan interview Sterling even though he had to be helped to the interview area.
In the co-main event, Amanda Nunes ran through Megan Anderson, submitting her at 2:03 in the first round to successfully defend her featherweight title for the second time. Also the women’s bantamweight champion, Nunes hurt Anderson with her hands and worked on the ground to submit Anderson with a great looking reverse triangle complete with an armbar to finish it up. She now has twelve straight wins, second longest in the UFC behind welterweight champion Kamaru Usman.