Petr Yan put collectively a masterclass efficiency to develop into a two-time UFC bantamweight champion, however he additionally put his identify into the report books within the Octagon in a manner no fighter has ever carried out earlier than. Yan avenged his loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323, dethroning the dominant champion with a one-sided efficiency that shocked many attributable to its lack of competitiveness.
When Yan fell quick to Dvalishvili of their first struggle, it was the third straight loss for the Russian fighter, following earlier setbacks to Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley. Statistics supplied by the X account @MMAonPoint highlighted the truth that since dropping their gold medal spot, no UFC fighter has misplaced three straight to regain their title.
It is a large deal in and of itself for Yan to come back out victorious towards a person many referred to as the goat of the bantamweight division. However the historic ingredient takes it to an entire totally different stage. As Yan mentioned, the newly minted titleholder addressed the MMA world on his private social media as he tackled unprecedented feats contained in the UFC cage.
“Historical past has been made. Thanks to everybody who supported me throughout tough occasions. Particularly my household and my group, this victory belongs to you. Every part is in the suitable place now.”
Petr Yan doesn’t assume the struggle within the Merab Dvalishvili trilogy will happen subsequent
Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili at the moment have one win every within the pair’s matches, however the former would not assume a rubber match with the latter will happen, not less than not for the foreseeable future. Each fighters have been dominant of their respective wins, however Yan appears to assume Dvalishvili wants another win earlier than he could make one other shot on the title.
In actual fact, the third two-time bantamweight gold medalist urged that Dvalishvili would have a really totally different form of rematch with Umar Nurmagomedov, and that the winner of that bout can be in a extra very best place to get one other crack on the strap. This was made clear by Yan in the course of the UFC 323 post-fight press convention after discussions had been finalized for what might be the UFC’s last pay-per-view service forward of the 2026 Paramount Media rights deal.
