A mixed martial artist from Russia named Petr Yan has recently become the UFC bantamweight champion after finishing Jose Aldo in their 5-round bout. Yan finished a Brazilian legend with a TKO and become the second active UFC champion from Russia. Will he remain the champ for long? Let`s discuss it.
The fight
After Henry Cejudo`s resignation in May 2020, the bantamweight champion`s belt was vacant. Its fate was determined on the UFC 251 when 27-year old Yan has met in the octagon with UFC ex-champion in flyweight division Jose Aldo. Brazilian fighter took some control in the 2nd round, but the whole bout itself was dictated by the dominative Russian fighter. After all, in the last championship round, Yan has performed the takedown and finished Aldo by the round of shots. The judge declared the win by TKO.
What now?
Petr Yan had a 2-year path to this championship fight. We debuted in UFC in 2018 and won all of the 7 fights he had in the promotion. His last victory has undoubtedly pleased the fans and impressed the UFC community, but as you know in this sport there`s never calm days and one of the first questions Yan`s team was asked is who is going to be his next opponent.
Opportunities
Aldo took the loss with dignity and expressed his respect to Yan but they are not likely to fight, for now, at least. A newly minted champ is exchanging some trash talk with the retired champ Henry Cejudo but we doubt that their actions will go beyond that. Another UFC fighter and Yan`s possible next challenge is Aljamain Sterling. He cheered Yan but then also trashed him a little bit on Twitter.
According to the news from Petr Yan`s team, they are thinking about Sterling as the opponent for the first title defense. The fans are eager to see whether Sterling is going to be that fierce in person and if he is going to back up all the trash talk towards Yan.
Apart from Sterling, experts state that the most dangerous opponent for sterling is Cody Garbrandt and his snipe shots. Well, Yan must have known how to respond to that. He has an intimidating combo of murderous striking and high-class grappling skills. Whoever is going to be the next opponent for the champion, the fight doesn`t seem to be easy for either side.
Conclusion
Congrats to the new bantamweight champ! The strongest contenders queued up to fight Petr Yan and we believe that he has everything in his arsenal to stand up for his title, though it`s not going to be easy for sure.
Do you like Yan? Share your impressions about him with us.
Also, you can read about Mike Perry Faces Consequences After Knocking Down a Man in a Bar.
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