The UFC often does not pack as many as three championship fights in a single night. But when it does, it features Petr Yan prominently.
The UFC bantamweight champion, who will defend his title for the first time on Saturday against Alzman Sterling at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, is part of a trio of defenses in action at the UFC 259 pay-per-view event. This was also the case when he won the vacant crown with a major fifth-round TOK from Jose Aldo last July. In his last non-title bout in December 2019, his third-round KO of Urijah Faber came on the PPV main card, highlighted by a championship triple-header.
On the one hand, placing the yan (15–1, eight finishes) on major events is a tool to increase risk for the proud natives of the vast Siberia region in Russia. But it also means that they are yet to be promoted as a star attraction. It is not that the 28-year-old is in the running for more than seven years in his MMA career.
“, I just have to keep winning,” Yan, who speaks Russian, told the post via phone via manager Sayat Abdrakhmanov on Tuesday. “I have everything to make my fights entertaining, just keep winning, and it will come.”
Yan emphasized hard work and results on pre-fight hype, but he had his fair share of back-and-forth on social media with Sterling (19–3, 10 finishes), a 31-year-old Long Island native. Longo and Weidman MMA in Garden City. A former two-time NCAA Division III All-American at SUNY Courtland with eight wins with the challenge He said he believes he just needs “a takedown” to get the job done. And usurp Yan, a former boxer who learned wrestling from watching YouTube early in his MMA journey.
The champion, who lacks Sterling’s boon, is lacking in the “B” plan, chattering and intends just Saturday to plan a long and active reign above the 135-pound weight class. This game is probably considered the deepest.
“It’s an honor to be the champion of such a deep division,” Yan said.
Although Yan typically trains at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket, Thailand, he has trained in Coconut Creek, Fla. Prepared for this battle with. The top American-origin team, one of the most prominent gyms in the sport, has several world champions under its roof. He has enjoyed the experience, but is not ready to switch full-time.
“We will see that I am going to make this my permanent base,” Yan said. “I will definitely be back to Thailand. I love it there. Great weather, great camp. And in Florida, training partners also have a lot of benefits. Then we will see. Definitely, I’m coming back. sure.”
Getting training so far from his wife and two sons is a challenge for the champion, who has been away from him for two months and has facetimes with him daily. Once work is done against Sterling, Yan will take advantage of the time between fights by soaking in quality family time, which includes favorite activities for movies and taking on nature.
Yan said, “After the fight, when I am with my family, when I rest and enjoy myself, I let my guard down.”
Yan has indicated his “Siberian tenacity” as a driving force in his success. He was born in Yekaterinburg, one of Russia’s largest cities, with more than one million citizens. As one might expect from the region’s reputation, winters tend to be longer, with typical temperatures from October to April.
Some people outside Russia may have a perception of the region as such. And when he recommends visiting the place that has shaped him to soak in all his “beautiful places” and prefers not to portray it as a purely “hard” locale, he assumed that He has helped build her: she is a champion.
“Siberia is a place with harsh conditions, you have to be tough to survive there,” Yan said. “You have to work hard to become someone.”
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