Aljamain Sterling retained his UFC bantamweight title by stopping TJ Dillashaw after the challenger dislocated his shoulder seconds into their title fight.
Sterling dominated from the opening bell but was handed a significant advantage when Dillashaw's shoulder popped out in the opening minute. His corner was able to realign the joint between rounds but once the fight hit the canvas in the second session, Sterling closed the show.
"It popped out right away. I've got to apologise for holding up the weight class. I blew my shoulder out at the end of April when I started getting ready for this and I probably popped it out 20 times in training camp," admitted Dillashaw. "I told the ref in the back that my shoulder would probably pop out but not to stop the fight because I'll put it back in."
Sterling was making the second defence of the title he won from Petr Yan when the Russian was disqualified for landing an illegal knee in their first fight in 2021. Sterling then outpointed his rival in their rematch six months ago before agreeing to face Dillashaw after the former champion returned from a doping ban.
Dillashaw tested positive for the banned substance EPO following his defeat by then flyweight champion Henry Cejudo in 2021 and was slapped with a two-year ban. He returned with a split-decision win over Cory Sandhagen last summer which proved enough to earn him another title shot.
But it was Sterling who needed just 30 seconds to execute his first takedown and the champion kept the fight on the canvas for next three minutes as Dillashaw appeared to be nursing a dislocate shoulder before he was able to return to his feet.
Dillashaw had his joint popped back in between rounds but was still struggling in the second session as Sterling took the fight back to the ground. The challenger's shoulder popped back out midway through the round to leave his arm hanging by his side - and the fight was eventually stopped following a final flurry of ground-and-pound.
Sterling will likely defend his title against Sean O'Malley after he controversially overcame Yan in an enthralling contest. After a close opening round, both men rocked the other in the opening minute of the second session but it was Yan who had the edge. He continued to push the pace in the third round but O'Malley responded by drawing blood after a knee up the middle.
Yan finished the stronger, however, and looked to have done enough to secure victory, but only one of the three judges agreed as O'Malley was handed a surprising split-decision verdict.
Beniel Dariush belied his underdog status to outpoint Mateusz Gamrot and inch closer to a lightweight title shot. The No.6-ranked contender displayed excellent takedown defence to smother his rival's threat before being given the nod on all three judges' scorecards to extend his win streak to eight.
The opening fight on the main card saw Manon Fiorot outpoint Katlyn Chookagian after three uninspiring rounds which will hardly have piqued the interest of flyweight champion Valentina Shevchenko.
In the final prelim fight, Belal Muhammad inflicted a first defeat on Sean Brady to enhance his chances of a welterweight title shot. After a close first round, Muhammad stepped up the pressure in the second session to force the referee to step up in after a final barrage of punches.
