Petr Yan News

Adam Martin - June 12, 2020

UFC bantamweight title contender Petr Yan told rising star Sean O’Malley that he is “working for me now” after O’Malley took a shot at the Russian on social media. O’Malley told Yan on Twitter that he doesn’t spell his name the right way, poking fun at the fact he spells it Petr and not “Peter.” It was O’Malley’s way to keep himself in Yan’s eyesight while the Russian takes on Jose Aldo for the vacant UFC bantamweight title in July at UFC 251. Although O’Malley is No. 15 in the rankings and Yan is No. 3, O’Malley is doing his best to try and get under Yan’s skin and keep his name on Yan’s radar.

Tom Taylor - June 12, 2020

Petr Yan, who will battle Jose Aldo for the vacant UFC bantamweight title at UFC 251, believes he can beat every fighter in his division. The bantamweight division is arguably the best division in the UFC right now as Yan, Aldo, Aljamain Sterling, Cory Sandhagen, Cody Garbrandt, Marlon Moraes, Sean O’Malley and several other fighters are all gunning for gold.

Harry Kettle - June 12, 2020

Jose Aldo’s long-time training partner Eduardo Dantas has revealed that he believes the Brazilian will beat Petr Yan via second round KO at UFC 251. Aldo and Yan are set to square off for the UFC Bantamweight Championship next month in what will serve as the promotion’s first pay-per-view event on the highly anticipated Fight Island.

Harry Kettle - June 11, 2020

The Ultimate Fighting Championship has released the first official poster for the highly anticipated UFC 251 event on Fight Island. It’s been months in the making, but we finally have the confirmation through from the UFC that the proposed Fight Island will indeed take place on Yas Island, Abu Dhabi. While it may not have been exactly what everyone pictured it to be, one thing is for sure: the first PPV card from the run of events over there is going to be a big one.

Adam Martin - May 29, 2020

Rising star Petr Yan has opened up as the betting favorite for a vacant UFC bantamweight title fight against legend Jose Aldo. In the wake of the abrupt retirement by Henry Cejudo and subsequent vacancy of his belt, UFC president Dana White confirmed this week that the next bantamweight title fight will feature Yan against Aldo. The fight has no confirmed date or location yet but it is rumored to take place at Fight Island this summer.

Adam Martin - May 4, 2020

The upcoming UFC Kazakhstan card in June has been canceled, leaving main event bantamweights Petr Yan and Marlon Moraes in limbo. UFC Fight Night 177 was set to take place on June 13 at Astana Arena in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. The card was set to be headlined by Yan and Moraes, but according to a report from MMAFighting.com, the event had to be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. That means that Yan and Moraes will now have to be rescheduled to another card.

Tom Taylor - April 21, 2020

Top UFC bantamweight contender Petr Yan believes the UFC is hurting its own reputation by pushing ahead with a bantamweight title fight between champ Henry Cejudo and challenger Dominick Cruz. The controversy surrounding this Cejudo vs. Cruz fight stems from the fact that Cruz, despite being a decorated former champ, has not fought since a decisive 2016 loss to Cody Garbrandt.

Adam Martin - April 14, 2020

Petr Yan took to social media to criticize UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo for calling out fighters coming off of a loss. Cejudo said this week that he is targeting fights against aging legends Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz, both of whom are coming off of a loss in their last bout. Cruz’s last fight was a decision loss to Cody Garbrandt at UFC 207 in December 2016, while Edgar was knocked out by The Korean Zombie at UFC Busan in December 2019. Cejudo was also set to fight Jose Aldo — who was coming off of a loss to Marlon Moraes at UFC 250 — before Aldo was removed from the card due to travel restrictions. Yan noticed that Cejudo has only been calling out fighters coming off of losses and decided to take a shot at the champ.

Natasha Hooper - April 1, 2020

Petr Yan has responded to a fight callout from former bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz. Cruz hasn’t fought since 2016 when he lost the title to Cody Garbrandt. Since then, he has battled multiple injuries and developed his career as a UFC commentator. The former champion revealed he is finally healthy again and ready to fight in 2020. Today in an interview with Mike Heck, he also revealed conversations with matchmaker Sean Shelby, who suggested he will need to fight “No Mercy” if he wants to inch closer to a bantamweight title shot:

Tom Taylor - March 4, 2020

The UFC’s debut in Kazakhstan, scheduled for June 13, now has a main event — and it’s a good one. The card will reportedly be topped by a bantamweight contender bout between Russia’s Petr Yan and Brazil’s Marlon Moraes, which has been rumored for some time and has now been confirmed by MMA Junkie. Petr Yan will step into the cage in Kazakhstan, a country with a huge Russian population, on a fantastic nine-fight win-streak. His last six victories have occurred in the UFC’s Octagon, where he’s defeated the likes of John Dodson, Jimmie Rivera, and most recently, former bantamweight title challenger Urijah Faber, who he knocked out on the main card of UFC 245 in December. The Russian is 14-1 overall.

Natasha Hooper - March 3, 2020

Petr Yan has fired back against Henry Cejudo’s insults in a humorous way on Twitter. The former two-division champion mocked Yan and fellow bantamweight, Aljamain Sterling in a recent Twitter rant. He called the Russian fighter an “ugly communist potato” and urged him to improve his English.

Natasha Hooper - February 18, 2020

Henry Cejudo’s trash-talking antics have landed him in hot water. MMA reporter Karyn Bryant has called out the bantamweight champion for his use of racially loaded trash talk against Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan. “Triple C” has received scrutiny recently for calling out Jose Aldo to fight in his next title defence. Despite Aldo’s long list of MMA accomplishments, the UFC legend is coming off two back-to-back losses and is ranked number 6 in the division. No. 2 ranked bantamweight Aljamain Sterling joined Ariel Helwani’s podcast yesterday and accused Cejudo of picking an easier fight to boost ticket sales. 

Natasha Hooper - February 7, 2020

Petr Yan is upholding Russia’s reputation as the home for some of the toughest and most talented MMA fighters. The number three ranked bantamweight made his Octagon debut less than two years ago and has bulldozed his way through six opponents including John Dodson and Urijah Faber. The self proclaimed “Siberian Gangster” has proved his resilience outside of the Octagon. During an interview with RT news, the fighter opened up about his experiences outside of fighting that have shaped who he is to the this day:

Adam Martin - February 4, 2020

UFC bantamweight contender Petr Yan says that he is interested in fighting former champion TJ Dillashaw when he returns from suspension in 2020. Dillashaw, the former two-time UFC bantamweight champ, has been out since January 2019 due to testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He is set to return in January 2020 from suspension and Yan says that he wants to fight him upon his return.

Natasha Hooper - January 31, 2020

Aljamain Sterling wants the UFC spotlight focused on him. To do so, he wants to take centre stage against number three ranked bantamweight, Petr Yan. On social media, the New York native called for a showdown against the surging Russian prospect. He said:

Adam Martin - January 31, 2020

The manager for UFC bantamweight contender Petr Yan says that the rising star could take on Marlon Moraes in May or June. Yan is coming off of a huge KO win over Urijah Faber at UFC 245 which catapulted him into title contention at 135lbs as the No. 3-ranked contender. Moraes, meanwhile, defeated Jose Aldo via split decision to keep his spot as the No. 1 contender. However, despite both Yan and Moraes picking up wins, the UFC decided to instead give Aldo the title shot against UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo in a controversial move.

Chris Taylor - January 4, 2020

Henry Cejudo has responded to Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling following a plethora of callouts from the top ranked bantamweight contenders. The UFC’s current bantamweight champion, Cejudo, is currently awaiting his next assignment but has been campaigning for a fight with former featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo.

Adam Martin - January 3, 2020

Top contender Petr Yan says that it’s obvious UFC bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo is ducking him and has no interest in fighting him anytime soon. Cejudo knocked out Urijah Faber at UFC 245 for his biggest win to date. On the same card, Marlon Moraes defeated Jose Aldo via split decision. However, the decision was extremely controversial, with UFC president Dana White saying that he thought Aldo won. Cejudo also thought Aldo won and is chasing a fight with the Brazilian legend despite the fact he is riding a two-fight losing skid at the moment.