Petr ‘No Mercy’ Yan Wants His UFC Bantamweight Belt Back

Petr Yan is a case study on how fortunes can change in the blink of an eye in the UFC. After bursting onto the scene in 2018, ripping off eight straight wins on his way to capturing the bantamweight championship, he lost his title to Aljamain Sterling in a still somewhat controversial DQ loss via an illegal knee to the head in the spring of 2021.

He bounced back impressively in his next bout later that year, winning a decision against Cory Sandhagen. But mixed martial arts can be a zero-sum game and he lost his next three fights, albeit to the last three champions in the 135-pound division: a decision loss in a rematch against Sterling in April 2022, a highly controversial decision loss against Sean O’Malley at UFC 280 that October and a one-sided loss to current champion Merab Dvalishvili in March 2023.

Three straight losses in the UFC can be a death knell to any fighter, even a former champion of the caliber of Yan. But a year later, Yan showed his championship heart and won a unanimous decision against the very tough Song Yadong to improve to 17-5-0.

The former champion and current No. 33 contender spoke with Sports Illustrated’s Doug Vazquez ahead of his main event fight against Deiveson Figueiredo on Saturday night in Macau in what is being viewed as a title eliminator fight. Yan was resolute in his opinion that with a win against Figueiredo, he should be the No. 1 contender for Dvalishvili’s title.

“Merab said himself that Figueiredo is a true No. 11 contender who’s supposed to fight for the belt, so if I beat him, what does that make me? I believe that makes me the No. 1 contender for the belt.”

Check out Petr Yan’s full interview on Sports Illustrated’s YouTube page.