UFC 259 full results: Blachowicz decisions Adesanya; Nunes dominates Anderson; Yan DQ'd vs. Sterling

Only one belt changed hands Saturday at UFC 259 and it wasn't the one most suspected going into the stacked pay-per-view event at Apex in Las Vegas.

Aljamain Sterling became the new champion after Petr Yan landed an ugly illegal knee in Round 4 of their bantamweight title fight. Up to that point the fight had been closely contested with two judges having Yan up on the scorecards two rounds to one and one judge scoring it the same but in favor of Sterling. A seemingly concussed Sterling was awarded the belt after Yan was disqualified for what was ruled an intentional foul which caused Sterling to be unable to continue fighting.

In the main event, Jan Blachowicz showed no fear against the previously undefeated Israel Adesanya, whose pursuit of greatness was stuffed after Blachowicz used his size and strength to overpower "The Last Stylebender." Blachowicz won the fight on all three judges' scorecards.

For Megan Anderson, her pursuit of greatness lasted less than one round in her first UFC title shot against the consensus No. 1 female fighter in the world Amanda Nunes. "The Lioness" mauled Anderson from the opening bell until tying up the Aussie on the ground for her first submission victory since 2016.

UFC 259 live blog

UFC 259 main event full results

• Light heavyweight: Jan Blachowicz def. Israel Adesanya via unanimous decision (49-45 x 2, 49-46)

• Featherweight: Amanda Nunes def. Megan Anderson via submission (arm bar) at 2:03 of R1:

• Bantamweight: Aljamain Sterling def. Petr Yan via DQ (illegal knee) at 4:29 of R4:

• Lightweight: Islam Makhachev def. Drew Dober via submission (arm triangle) at 1:37 of R3

• Light heavyweight: Aleksandar Rakic def. Thiago Santos via unanimous decision (29-28 x 2, 30-27)

UFC 259 prelims full results

• Bantamweight: Dominick Cruz def. Casey Kenney via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

• Bantamweight: Kyler Phillips def. Song Yadong via unanimous decision (29-28 x 3)

• Flyweight: Askar Askarov def. Joseph Benavidez via unanimous decision (30-37 x 2, 30-26)

• Flyweight: Kai Kara-France def. Rogerio Bontorin via TKO at 4:55 of R1:

UFC 259 early prelims full results

• Flyweight: Tim Elliott def. Jordan Espinosa via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 3-25)

• Light heavyweight: Kennedy Nzechukwu def. Carlos Ulberg via TKO (punches) at 3:19 of R2:

• Welterweight: Sean Brady def. Jake Matthews via submission (arm triangle) at 3:28 of R3

• Strawweight: Amanda Lemos def. Livinha Souza via TKO (punches) at 3:39 of R1:

• Lightweight: Uros Medic def. Aalon Cruz via TKO (punches) at 1:40 of R1:

• Bantamweight: Trevin Jones def. Mario Bautista via TKO (punches) at 0:40 of R2:

With an ESPN+ subscription, UFC fans will get access to over 20 exclusive live UFC Fight Nights, original content including "Dana White’s Contender Series," "UFC Destined," "Ariel & The Bad Guy," classic fights, replays and much more.

More from Yahoo Sports:

• Thamel: Les Miles' time at Kansas must end

• WWE documentary tells story of Heaven Fitch

• Mark Pavelich, Miracle on Ice star, dead at 63

• Iole: The time has finally come for Aljamain Sterling