Petr "No Mercy" Yan is currently ranked No.2 in the UFC bantamweight rankings with a professional MMA record of 16-wins and 4-losses. Yan also holds a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Petr Yan is scheduled to fight Merab Dvalishvili at UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Dvalishvili on 12th March 2023.
Petr Yan started his combat sports journey in grade six when he started training in Taekwon-do before transitioning into boxing. He achieved the Master of Sport rank in boxing before transitioning into MMA.
Yan made his MMA debut in 2013 at the Irkutsk Pankration Sports center: Baikal Storm 2013 against Murad Bakiev. Yan won the fight in the 3rd round via KO(punch), following which he signed with ACB(Absolute Championship Berkut).
Yan made his ACB debut by joining the ACB Bantamweight Grand Prix. Yan defeated Renato Velame in the Quarterfinals and then defeated Kharon Orzumiev to enter the Grand Prix final against Murad Kalamov. Yan defeated Kalamov via a unanimous decision to win the Grand Prix and get a title shot for the vacant ACB Bantamweight Championship against Magomed Magomedov at ACB 32.
Yan lost the fight via a close split decision. He bounced back from the loss by defeating Ed Arthur via a unanimous decision to get a rematch against Magomedov for the ACB Bantamweight Championship at AFC 57.
This time, Yan defeated Magomedov via a unanimous decision to become the ACB Bantamweight Champion and then defended the title against Matheus Mattos via third-round TKO(punches).
Yan left the promotion after the fight to join the UFC in 2018.
Petr Yan made his UFC debut at UFC Fight Night: Cowboy vs. Edwards against Teruto Ishihara. Yan defeated Ishihara in the first round via KO(punches). After the victory, Yan went on a 3-fight win streak before fighting Urijah Faber at UFC 245. Yan outclassed Faber and KO'ed him in the third round via head kick head kick
Yan next fought Jose Aldo for the vacant UFC Bantamweight Championship at UFC 251 after Henry Cejudo announced his retirement from the sport.
Yan dominated Aldo in the fight and TKO'ed him in the fifth round via punches to become the UFC Bantamweight Champion. He then made his first title defense at UFC 259 against Aljamain Sterling. Yan dominated Aljamain in the striking and grappling department. It looked like Yan would have an easy fight but, he landed an illegal knee on Aljamain when he was grounded.
Sterling was unable to compete after the illegal knee and refused to continue the fight. Due to this, he was declared the fight winner via DQ and became the new UFC Bantamweight Champion. Petr Yan became the first fighter in UFC history to lose his title because of DQ.
Yan bounced back from the title loss and fought Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 for the Interim UFC Bantamweight Championship. Yan won the back-and-forth via unanimous decision and became the Interim UFC Bantamweight Champion.
Petr Yan fought Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259 for the UFC Bantamweight Championship. Yan remained patient in the first round as Sterling started outworking him and landed some kicks. However, Yan caught Sterling's kick and dropped him on the ground, and connected with some kicks on the leg before Sterling got back to the feet.
Sterling bounced back in the round with a flying knee right to the side of Yan's head. He then took down Yan to land some ground-and-pound. The momentum shifted when Yan connected with a strong right in the first round and dropped Sterling.
Yan started gaining an edge in the second round as he began landing some combos and countering Aljamain's Sterling. In round three, Yan gained the upper hand in the fight as he started picking apart Sterling in the striking and grappling department. Yan looked dominant in the fight until Yan struck an illegal knee on Sterling. Following this, Aljamain was unable to resume fighting after the knee. Due to this, the fight ended and, Aljamain Sterling was declared the winner by DQ and the new UFC Bantamweight Champion.
Petr Yan fought Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 for the Interim UFC Bantamweight Championship. Yan started patiently in the fight and looked to counter and absorb Sandhagen's initial aggression in the first round. Yan began to fire up in the second round as he and Cory exchanged strikes throughout the entire second round.
Yan started to dominate the fight in the third round as he started landing his boxing combos and dropped Sandhagen with a clean spinning back fist. Yan continued his third-round dominance in the fourth round and completely nullified Sandhagen's aggression. The fifth round was competitive as Sandhagen tried making a comeback with his aggression. However, Yan matched Cory on the aggression level and connected with a head kick in the last seconds of the fight.
Yan won the fight via a unanimous decision to become the UFC interim Bantamweight Champion.
credit: MMA Fighting
Petr Yan is scheduled to face Merab Dvalishvili at UFC Fight Night: Yan vs. Dvalishvili on 12th March 2023.
Petr Yan's nickname is "No Mercy".
Petr Yan competes in the bantamweight division, which has a weight limit of 135 pounds (61 kg).
Petr Yan is 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm) tall.
*Last Updated On 6th March 2023
