Petr Yan


Petr Evgenyevich Yan is a Russian professional mixed martial artist competing in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championships, where he is the current UFC Bantamweight Champion. Yan formerly fought in Absolute Championship Berkut where he is a former ACB bantamweight champion. As of July 30, 2020, he is #12 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.

Early life

Yan was born to a father of mixed Chinese-Russian descent and a Russian mother. In sixth grade, Yan began training in ITF Taekwon-do and often fought in the streets and at the school in his area, so his family often moved to try and prevent this. Yan's older brother trained in boxing in the city of Dudinka, Krasnoyarsk Krai, and Petr wanted to learn how to box too. But his elder brother initially refused to take Petr along with him, thus Petr decided to sneak and follow his brother to go to learn the sport of boxing. From then on, Petr went on to train in boxing for 8 years and achieved the rank of Master of Sport in Boxing in the 64 kg weight category. Petr Yan also graduated from the Siberian Federal University in the city of Omsk with a degree in Physical Culture and Sport.

Mixed martial arts career

Early career

Yan debuted in MMA at the Eurasian Fighting Championship - Baikal Fight in December 2014. He won via third-round knockout over Murad Bakiev, who was also a debutante. In 2015, Yan signed a contract with the Russian promotion Absolute Championship Berkut. He was said to have gained many fans after his debut with the promotion where he fought Brazilian fighter Renato Velame, who at the time, already had 26 fights in his MMA career. However, Yan won this fight by decision. In Yan's third fight, he fought and beat Kharon Orzumiev by first round submission in just 47 seconds. In his following fight, Yan knocked out Artur Mirzakhanyan in the first round which was held at Professional Fight Night 10: Russia Cup.

Absolute Championship Berkut

On 24 October 2015, Yan faced Murad Kalamov and won the fight by unanimous decision. The win granted Yan the opportunity to fight Magomed Magomedov for the championship belt in the bantamweight division.
Yan fought Magomed Magomedov on 26 March 2016 in Moscow at ACB 32: "The Battle of Lions". After going all five rounds, Magomedov won the fight by split decision and won the title at bantamweight; however, many felt that Yan had won the fight, including ACB president, Mairbek Khasiev who promised to book a rematch. Although Yan lost, this fight was voted as ACB's best fight of the year in 2016.
Following his first professional loss, Yan returned to face English mixed martial artist Ed Arthur at ACB 41: Path to Triumph, in Sochi. He won the fight by unanimous decision.
In the spring of 2017, Yan was scheduled to have a rematch with Magomedov on April 15 at ACB 57: Payback in Moscow. This time, Yan exacted revenge and defeated Magomedov by unanimous decision after fighting all five hard-fought rounds. He won the decision and ultimately was crowned the ACB bantamweight champion.
Following his win, Yan returned in September 2017 to fight Brazilian contender Matheus Mattos at ACB: 71 in Moscow. After winning the first two rounds, Yan caught Mattos with a left uppercut which caused Mattos to fall to his back, making the referee stop the fight. He successfully defended his bantamweight title by third-round knockout.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

Following his first title defense, Yan signed a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship in January 2018.
Yan made his promotional debut against Teruto Ishihara on June 23, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 132. He won the fight via technical knockout in the first round.
Yan was briefly scheduled to face top-14 UFC rankings Douglas Silva de Andrade on September 15, 2018 at the UFC Fight Night 136. However, Andrade pulled out of the fight on August 9 citing a foot injury, and he was replaced by Jin Soo Son. At weigh-ins, Son weighed one pound over the bantamweight non-title fight limit of 136 pounds and he was fined 20 percent of his purse to Yan. Yan won the fight by unanimous decision. This win earned him the Fight of the Night award.
A bantamweight bout was rescheduled between Yan and Douglas Silva de Andrade for UFC 232 on December 29th, 2018. He won the fight via technical knockout in round two after de Andrade's corner stopped the fight.
On January 10, 2019, Yan revealed on social media that he had signed a new, four-fight contract with the UFC. Yan faced John Dodson on February 23, 2019 at UFC Fight Night 145. Yan won the fight by unanimous decision, after landing hard punches and kicks whilst Dodson's back was against the cage.
Despite his previous, few months old contract, Yan signed a new six-fight contract which was offered to him immediately after his win against Dodson.
Yan faced Jimmie Rivera on June 8, 2019 at UFC 238. He won the fight by unanimous decision.
On June 26, it was reported that Yan had to undergo surgery due to synovitis in his left elbow.
Yan faced Urijah Faber on December 14, 2019 at UFC 245. After largely dominating the striking exchanges and knocking Faber down in the second round, Yan ultimately won the fight via knockout in the third round. This win earned him the Performance of the Night award.
After the fight with Faber, Yan was critical of bantamweight champion, Henry Cejudo, stating that he is being ducked by Cejudo. “I think it’s pretty obvious he is ducking me and doing everything he can to avoid fighting me. All this talk about him wanting a bigger name is bullshit, he just wants easier fight for himself."

Bantamweight Championship

After Cejudo's title defense against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249, Cejudo announced he would be retiring from mixed martial arts competition and he vacated the UFC Bantamweight Championship. Yan then faced former WEC and UFC Featherweight Champion José Aldo for the vacant bantamweight championship on July 12, 2020 at UFC 251. He won the fight via technical knockout in the fifth round.

Championships and accomplishments

Mixed martial arts