Former bantamweight champion, Petr Yan was coming into UFC 299 off the back of three consecutive losses, but still regarded as one of the best bantamweight’s in the world.
Yan’s last fight came against Merab Dvalishvili in March of last year, almost a year to the day. Prior to that, losses to Sean O’Malley, and former champion, Aljamain Sterling, had fans questioning if he was on the demise.
At UFC 299 though, the Russian bounced back in a major way, defeating the impressive Song Yadong over three fiercely contested rounds.
Song Yadong was coming into this fight with all of the momentum as he picked up wins in his last two outings against Chris Gutierrez and Ricky Simon.
Round one went the way of the Chinese 26-year-old, as Yan’s notorious slow start seemed as though it was going to be his downfall once again. ‘The Kung Fu Kid’ landed one of his two takedown attempts, recognizing Yan’s weaknesses from his last fight.
‘No Mercy’ rebounded in round two though as he began making his reads and adjustments, finally having more success with his crisp boxing. In round two, he doubled his significant strike output from round one, beginning to land damaging shots on the face of Yadong.
The 31-year-old showcased his championship experience in the final round, edging the exchanges and pipping Song Yadong to the post.
Now the Russian has finally returned to the win column, fans will be pondering what is next for the former bantamweight champion. After a controversial loss to Sean O’Malley, there could be a potential for that rematch somewhere down the line.
Cory Sandhagen is also likely going to be waiting a while for his deserved title shot, so those two elite bantamweights running it back wouldn’t go a miss.
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Fans react to Petr Yan’s bounce-back win at UFC 299
Because of his exciting fight style, Yan has become a favorite amongst fans.
In round three of the closely contested fight, only one significant strike separated them, with Yan landing 36 and Yadong landing 35.