The UFC’s bantamweight division is one of the most if not the most talent stacked division in the promotion. Sean O’Malley is the current champion of the division and has a whole host of contenders waiting to take him on for the belt. One such fighter happens to be former interim champion, Petr Yan.
Unfortunately as things stand, Yan is on a three-fight skid. His most recent loss was against Merab Dvalishvili in March this year. However, the loss before that was a split-decision against Sean O’Malley. The decision caused a huge divide among UFC fans, some thought Yan deserved to win the fight. Others argued that Sean O’Malley had done enough to secure the win.
Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov made his feelings very clear when the decision of the fight was announced. In a recent interview Petr Yan was asked if he saw ‘The Eagle’s reaction to his loss against O’Malley and if they had spoken about it. He said,
“Yeah I have seen it. No, we have not talked about it. But I saw his reaction, you can see that he was baffled too.”
In the same interview, Yan was asked about O’Malley’s performance against Sterling and what he made of it. The former champion stated that he could see a mental progression in O’Malley’s game. He also added that ‘Sugar’ had significantly improved on his striking which was already good to begin with. Finally, he refused to brand O’Malley’s knockout win against Sterling ‘Lucky’. Instead saying, that he full deserved to win the bantamweight belt.
With that being said, let’s take a look at what is next for Petr Yan after three straight losses.
Petr Yan to return to action in 2024?
Since his loss against Dvalishvili earlier this year, Petr Yan has taken time off to regroup himself and take much needed time off. During that time, Yan has visited different gyms and training camps in order to learn more and evolve as a fighter. What is interesting to note is that Yan was not completely dominated in any of his three losses and therefore has a lot left to give.
As things stand, Yan is currently ranked 5th in the bantamweight division. A fight with Henry Cejudo or Cory Sandhagen in 2024 would make a lot of sense for Yan. ‘No Mercy’ has a history with both names and they’re also ranked high enough so that a win can get him closer to a title shot.
