After a big bounce-back win at UFC 299 last month, Petr Yan has found himself being called out by fellow bantamweight contender, Marlon Vera.
After losing three fights in a row, Petr Yan returned from a year’s hiatus at UFC 299, where he defeated Song Yadong over a three-round decision.
The same night, Marlon Vera was utterly dominated in his title challenger fight against 135lb champion, Sean O’Malley.
Marlon Vera called for a fight with Petr Yan first
Following his disappointing performance, the Ecuadorian instantly began planning his route back to the title, and he decided the first stop should be through the Russian.
“I was hoping to fight Yan in November” Vera told Ariel Helwani on the MMA Hour following his loss to O’Malley at UFC 299, “I feel that would be a great fight that makes sense.”
Despite that, Yan went on to announce that he required surgery following his UFC 299 win, suffering a ruptured ACL, torn meniscus, and a groin injury. ‘No Mercy’ had surgery though, and will likely be ready for a November comeback.
The two 135lbers are right next to each other in the bantamweight rankings, with Yan occupying rank four and Vera at rank five.
Petr Yan accepts Marlon Vera’s fight call out
Vera’s wish could come true as Petr Yan is ‘one hundred percent’ down for a fight with the 31-year-old.
“Do I want to fight Marlon Vera? Yes.” the Russian told KPSport, “I’ll be ready for November. Of course I’ll do it. I’ll take him to Mixed Martial Arts school.”
Despite being 1-3 in his last four fights, Yan is only one or two wins away from possibly claiming another bantamweight title shot. With Sean O’Malley being the current champion, there is already history with Yan, which could work in his favor moving forward.
‘No Mercy’ went on to compare the possible fight with Vera to that of his fight with Song Yadong, claiming that it won’t go to plan for Vera as it didn’t for the Chinese contender.
“You saw how Yadong showed his best boxing.” Yan explained. “It went a little off the rails. Things won’t go according to plan for Vera either. That’s a hundred percent. We’re going with what we’ve got so far, October or November is a good time to make that fight.”
The bantamweight title picture and what’s next for Sean O’Malley
The 31-year-old likely wouldn’t earn a title shot with a win against Vera, but it would of course put him closer.
Sean O’Malley is fighting Merab Dvalishvili next, with that fight rumored to take place in September at the Sphere in Las Vegas. Following that, Cory Sandhagen is likely next in line for a title shot, but he and Umar Nurmagomedov have been setting up a fight with each other.
Depending on whether Sandhagen gets a fight with Umar Nurmagomedov and how that fight goes, Petr Yan could find that timing works perfectly for him if he is able to get through Marlon Vera in October or November.
