Former bantamweight champ Petr Yan put on a five-round masterclass on Saturday night, showcasing stellar boxing skills en route to a clean sweep on scorecards against Deiveson Figueiredo.
Yan’s unanimous decision win – his first five-round victory in more than three years – headlined UFC’s return to Macau at the Galaxy Arena this weekend.
After edging out the early rounds of the fight – making better use of ground control in the opening frame and out-landing Figueiredo in the second – Yan started to run away with his lead by the third round.
31-year-old Yan used his boxing to dominate Figueiredo, further extending his lead in the fight as the bout crossed into deep waters. The notoriously slow starter finally settled into a rhythm by the third round of the fight, spending the final 15 minutes of the bout significantly out-landing Figueiredo and testing his ability to consume shots.
In particular, it was uppercut punches from Yan which gave Figueiredo trouble, connecting frequently and forcefully throughout the fight. A right uppercut from Yan dropped Figueiredo in the third round, and many other times snapped back the Brazilian talent’s head.
While Yan was far ahead on scorecards by the fourth round, he received a late scare thanks to a big moment from the unpredictable Figueiredo. The former flyweight champ scored a right hand to the head of Yan, dropping the Russian fighter late in the fourth round. Figueiredo remained in the fight and continued to land in the final five minutes of the bout, although more than just a couple of successful rounds were needed at that point for him to reverse the fight’s result.
The impressive victory helped rebuild Yan’s title contender status, regaining some momentum following a trio of losses to the division’s best names.
After losing his title in 2022 to Aljamain Sterling in a close split decision, Yan went on to drop scorecard results to the division’s two next champions: Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili.
Due to the high-level opponents he faced, the trio of losses did not knock him too far down the bantamweight standings. However, it definitely didn’t help his case for a title shot either. With the hopes of having another title run sometime in the future, Yan began a rebuild in 2024.
Earlier this year he started to get back on track, taking a three-round decision win against Song Yadong at UFC 299. He now has a scorecard win under his belt against another elite name in the division and will go into next week still sitting third in the 135-pound standings.
While many might see second-ranked Umar Nurmagomedov as the next challenger for incumbent champ Dvalishvili, Yan is hoping he could possibly be next for a shot.
“I want to do rematch with Merab,” Yan said during his post-fight interview.
The result on Saturday slowed Figueiredo’s momentum for the first time since moving up to the bantamweight limit late last year. The two-time flyweight champ entered this weekend with a trio of wins at the 135-pound limit, getting past former champ Cody Garbrandt and recent title challenger Marlon Vera earlier this year.
“God damn, what a fight,” Figueiredo said through an interpreter during his post-fight interview. “Guys, tonight was Petr Yan’s night … Tonight was his night, we’ll come back stronger.”
Here are the quick results for UFC’s first event in Macau in over 10 years:
Main Card (6:00AM EST / 7:00PM CST) (ESPN+)
Bout 13: Petr Yan def. Deiveson Figueiredo via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 12: Yan Xiaonan def. Tabatha Ricci via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 11: Muslim Salikhov def. Song Kenan via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 3:49)
Bout 10: Gabriella Fernandes def. Wang Cong via Submission, Rear Naked Choke (RD 2, 3:49)
Bout 9: Carlos Ulberg def. Volkan Oezdemir via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 8: Zhang Mingyang def. Ozzy Diaz via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:25)
Preliminary Card (3:00AM EST / 4:00PM CST) (ESPN+)
Bout 7: You Su-young def. Baergeng Jieleyisi via Decision, Unanimous (Road To UFC Bantamweight Final)
Bout 6: Choi Dong-hun def. Kiru Sahota via TKO, Strikes (RD 1, 2:36) (Road To UFC Flyweight Final)
Bout 5: Shi Ming def. Feng Xiaocan via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 0:46) (Road To UFC Strawweight Finals)
Bout 4: Carlos Hernandez def. Nyamjargal Tumendemberel via Decision, Split
Bout 3: Lone’er Kavanagh def. Jose Ochoa via Decision, Unanimous
Bout 2: Xiao Long def. Quang Le via TKO, Strikes (RD 3, 1:28)
Bout 1: Nikolas Motta def. Maheshate via Decision, Unanimous
Knockdown News 