Petr Yan may have swept the scorecards at this past weekend's UFC Fight Night in Macau, but his victory over Deiveson Figueiredo wasn't without some adversity.
Yan — a former undisputed and interim bantamweight champion on MMA's biggest stage — continued his winning form this year at Saturday's event inside the Galaxy Arena, where he made it two victories from two outings in 2024.
The Russian headlined proceedings opposite ex-flyweight kingpin Deiveson Figueiredo, whom he comfortably outpointed across five rounds of memorable action. The lopsided scorecards, however, don't completely tell the full story.
"Deus Da Guerra" certainly had his fair share of success, even threatening a late comeback when he knocked "No Mercy" down in round four.
During his post-fight press conference in Macau, Yan spoke about that moment while reflecting on his latest UFC triumph, admitting that the blow briefly left him "lost" in the cage.
I’m very glad that I won. Figueiredo is a really tough opponent, and he showed that he’s championship caliber," Yan said. "When he landed this knockdown with his punch, I thought, 'It’s not New Year's yet but the fireworks have already started.' Maybe I got lost for a little second.
But I recovered pretty fast and knew what was going on. This is a tough sport, anything can happen, so you have to be ready," Yan continued. "You can’t relax at any second, everybody can surprise you even in the last second of a fight.
Fortunately for Yan — who has yet to be finished in his professional career — he was able to recover from the scare and finish strong en route to a convincing decision win. And with that, the former champ has likely maintained his #3 spot on the bantamweight ladder and reinserted himself into the title picture.
While many have pointed to Umar Nurmagomedov as the deserving first in line to challenge newly crowned king Merab Dvalishvili, the Georgian was quick to accept Yan's post-fight callout in Macau and even pitched a date for their rematch in 2025.