Former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan is a great fighter. His kicks in taekwondo, punches in boxing, and offensive and defensive techniques of wrestling with power are almost impeccable.
After entering the UFC in 2018 and ending his debut fight with a KO, he defeated Jose Aldo by TKO five times in 2020 and became the bantamweight champion in a seven-game winning streak.
At the young age of 28, considering his various skills and power, a long run was certain. However, the days of misfortune began when he suffered his first defeat in the first defense in March 21st.
Yan’s record of 4 matches in the last 2 years is 1 win and 3 losses. It’s lousy, but looking at the inside, it’s not.
First defense against Aljamain Stirling. Jan took control of the game with good hitting and ground defense. He was either a TKO win in the 4th or a unanimous decision win in the 5th.
However, he lost the title unexpectedly due to a foul play on Sterling, who was down in the fourth inning.
A rematch with Sterling in April of last year. Expectations were high because he had become the interim champion by beating Cory Sand Hagen perfectly, but he lost by decision 2-1, spirit, due to poor performance compared to the first match.
It wasn’t a winning game, but even if it was won, it was enough, and that’s why some experts questioned the decision.
Before the rankings against Sean O’Malley last October. Jan was No. 1 in the rankings and was a rising stock, but O’Malley was No. 12 in the rankings. It was a game that leaned so much that it was evaluated as a miss match.
As expected, Yan clearly led the fight and looked to win by unanimous decision. However, the decision was O’Malley’s 2-1 decision victory.
It was an all-time misjudgment that all martial arts media scored Yan’s victory. Even O’Malley looked absurd, but the decision to push O’Malley was already over, and Yan was pushed down to second place, below O’Malley.
Yan’s current official record is 2 consecutive losses. He is in a situation where he has to break a losing streak, but his opponent is formidable. Merab Dbalishvili, who is ranked third in the rankings, is on an eight-game winning streak. 바카라
He is a strong man who retired Jose Aldo by TKO in the 5th at UFC 251, but his name is not well known compared to his winning streak.
So, in an interview with the media, Yan is confident of winning, saying, “Who cares about Merab?”
Yan and Merab fight with shield and spear. Merab is a ‘takedown artist’ with 50 takedowns, and Yan is a defensive captain with a 90% takedown ERA.
He’s good at punching too. Both had over 250 punches in the third round. The history is also similar.
Yan is 16-4 in MMA and 8-3 in UFC, and Merab is 15-4 in MMA and 8-2 in UFC.
Yan is the top dog at -250 and Merab is the underdog at +210. Yan was also the top dog in the last 4 games, where he had 1 win and 3 losses.
Will Yan be able to use all his skills this time and cut off bad luck?
Yan and Merab’s UFC Fight Night 221 main game will be broadcast on tvN and others from 8 am on the 12th.