Petr Yan scored a big win over Deiveson Figueiredo at Saturday morning’s UFC Macau to re-insert his name in the conversation for a shot at the bantamweight belt.
After five thrilling rounds of back-and-forth action, Yan earned a unanimous decision win over his fellow former champion, with 50-45 scores across the board that don’t reflect how close several of the rounds were.
Yan has now won back to back decisions over Figueiredo and Song Yadong to earn his first winning streak since 2020.
“I felt that I led in the fight, but anything can happen in the UFC,” Yan said after the win, calling for a shot at 135-pound champion Merab Dvalishvili next. “Before my fight, Merab said [me vs. Deiveson Figueiredo] deserves a title fight. I want to say, Merab, what you say now when I beat No. 1 contender in my division? I want to do a rematch with Merab. Let’s go.”
The former 135-pound champion looked to stop Figueiredo’s unbeaten run in the division, ut Figueiredo came out strong in Round 1 by taking him to the ground. The Brazilian couldn’t do much there, and Yan eventually inverted to stay on top position and land short hammerfists and elbows.
Yan started working body kicks in the second round, again avoiding Figueiredo’s takedowns, and finally put the Brazilian on the ground with a beautiful foot sweep in the final moments of the period.
Round 3 began and Yan clearly started to bother Figueiredo with calf and leg kicks before knocking him down with a nasty right uppercut. Yan smelled blood and went for the ground and pound with hammerfists before “Deus da Guerra” found an opening to get back to his feet.
Figueiredo and Yan started the fourth stanza with an insane scramble that ended with Figueiredo pressing the Russian against the cage to slow down the action. Yan knocked off Figueiredo’s mouthpiece with a left uppercut, again hurting him with a two-punch combination, but Figueiredo was the one to score a knockdown. Yan was hurt for a brief second, but went back to his feet to eat another body shot to close the round.
Needing a finish in the fifth, Figueiredo was told by his coaches to “keep [Yan] guessing to kill him with the hand.” It was Yan opening the final round with better shots landed on the feet, and missing a spinning back elbow that left Figueiredo smiling in the center of the cage. Yan and Figueiredo closed the show changing punches, and the Russian was declared the winner on the scorecards.
Figueiredo congratulated his opponent inside the cage after losing for the first time at bantamweight. The former UFC flyweight champion was 3-0 in the division over Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt and Marlon Vera before stumbling against Yan.
“Holy sh*t, brother,” Figueiredo said inside the octagon. “Hats off to Petr Yan. Today was his day. We can only carry the burden God gives, and today was his day. Tomorrow, I promise I’ll come back better. I always do. I always come back better.”
