This past Saturday at UFC 299, a big time bantamweight matchup kicked off the main card. Former champion Petr Yan (17-5) was looking to snap his three-fight losing streak as he took on rising top contender Song Yadong (21-8-1).
When the fight first started, things weren’t looking great for Yan to turn things around. Yan had entered Saturday night having lost three straight decisions against Sean O’Malley, Aljamain Sterling, and most recently Merab Dvalishvili.
Song Yadong was really getting the better of the striking early on with his speed. Yan is typically a slow starter, but it was really hard to see a path to victory for him after the first round. However, he really started to come back strong in the second round.
Yan started landing crisp boxing combinations and he mixed in a few of his own takedowns. After winning the second round, it came down to the third. Both men had some success throughout the final round, but a late takedown by Yan secured the fight for the former UFC champion.
What’s next after UFC 299?
This was such a big win for Yan who avoided a fourth straight loss with his decision win on Saturday. Yan didn’t have a specific name in his post-fight interview in terms of a callout, but now that he’s back on track, he should get a decent opponent in his next fight.
In looking at the division, I actually really like the idea of Yan fighting Deiveson Figueiredo next if the former flyweight champion defeats Cody Garbrandt at UFC 300. The fight makes a ton of sense and the two have been tied to each other in the past. If Figgy gets the win next month, I think this is the fight to make.