Former bantamweight champion and UFC Abu Dhabi co-headliner Petr Yan does not recognize three of his four Octagon setbacks.
Yan is currently continuing his push to return to the throne at 135 pounds after being unceremoniously thrust off it in 2021. In his very first title defense at UFC 259, Yan was disqualified for kneeing Aljamain Sterling while the challenger was grounded.
While the Russian immediately rebounded by winning the interim title in a memorable five-round war with Cory Sandhagen, his charge back to the top was stalled by a dismal run of three straight defeats.
Or was it? If you ask the man himself, he has only lost once in the UFC.
Petr Yan won’t accept his losses to Sean O’Malley and Aljamain Sterling
During a UFC Abu Dhabi fight week interview with UFC.com, Yan looked back on the winless run that preceded his recent upturn in form.
While his record will always read three consecutive losses to Sterling, Sean O’Malley, and Merab Dvalishvili, the Russian former champ sees only one of those results as a legitimate defeat.
“Me, personally, I don’t think I had three losses (in a row),” said Yan, whose feelings on his very first UFC loss to Sterling are also well known.
“I beat Sean O’Malley, decisively. I had a close fight with Aljamain Sterling that I think that I won, and the only fight I lost was against Merab, and I had reasons for a performance like that.
“So, myself, I never thought that I had three losses,” Yan added.
O’Malley and Yan traded success in their three-round 2022 battle, with ‘Suga’ controversially getting the nod on the scorecards.
There was less debate over the result that followed for ‘No Mercy’, however, as Yan was comfortably beaten by Dvalishvili in March 2023.
Petr Yan expects the chance to avenge his ‘only’ loss if he wins at UFC Abu Dhabi
The Russian recorded two straight wins to bounce back from his loss to Dvalishvili, first against Song Yadong before Yan beat Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Macau.
That run appeared to put ‘No Mercy’ on the road to a rematch with ‘The Machine’. And with that in mind, many were surprised to instead see Yan matched up against Marcus McGhee for UFC Abu Dhabi.
Yan went on to reveal that he could have sat out and waited for a shot at regaining the bantamweight title but ultimately chose to stay active.
“I was told that I can wait and I’ll be next in line for the title but I don’t want to wait and I don’t want to be an inactive fighter, I want to fight twice this year, if possible,” Yan told Gorilla Energy.
“I am ready to fight, I expressed my desire, and they found me an opponent. All the fighters in the top five or even top 10 are busy right now. Some of them already have fights scheduled. Some have other reasons.
“I just wanted to fight in July, they found me an opponent, and I’m ready,” Yan added.
While that means ‘No Mercy’ is risking his position, it should ensure that a victory on Saturday puts him in line for an opportunity against the winner of UFC 320’s co-main event between Dvalishvili and Sandhagen.