Petr Yan’s ascension to the highest of the bantamweight championship was a stunning second to finish 2025, however Yan’s teammates, who additionally received gold final December, are weighing in on the previous ACA standout returning to UFC {hardware}. That very same month, Yan regained the 135-pound strap and avenged his loss to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323, whereas his Tiger Muay Thai teammate additionally received championship gold underneath the Rizin FF banner.
Ilkom Nozimov stopped Rizin’s longest-reigning titleholder, light-weight champion Roberto Satoshi de Souza, in 13 seconds, taking the RFF 155-pound belt from the inaugural champion in his class. Nozimov had beforehand mirrored Sean O’Malley’s stylistic tendencies throughout a TMT coaching session earlier than Yang fought “Suga”.
On that huge month the place a number of Tiger Muay Thai fighters received significant belts in varied MMA promotions, Nozimov mentioned (through Bowks Speaking Bouts),
“Petr Yan can also be a troublesome man. When he was getting ready for Sean O’Malley, I spent the entire camp with him. I used to be his foremost sparring associate in that combat, however even after sparring with him and after camp with him, it was straightforward to combat and spar with anybody in the identical division as a result of Petr is the one who at all times makes it tough for you.”
“I’ve grown a lot and I realized rather a lot from that camp and I nonetheless use the data I gained from that camp. This man is a man who at all times places you at risk and may at all times do injury, however he is nonetheless evolving. Mentally he is on one other degree now. That is why I am very, very completely happy for him, as a result of I at all times knew he deserved to be champion once more.”
Will Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili 3 be on the UFC White Home card? The latter explains why not
Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili are tied with one win every within the sequence, however the former champion defined why that reportedly will not occur on sure UFC summer season playing cards. A rubber match between Yang and Dvalishvili shouldn’t be anticipated to happen on the June occasion on the White Home, with the latter stating so in an interview. MMA Professional’s Selection.
“The Machine” appeared to have ended the tie-break match with the Russian champions close to the Oval Workplace, as Dvalishvili mentioned:
“The UFC advised me our combat won’t happen on the White Home on Trump’s birthday in June as a result of he’s Russian. That is not attainable.”
