Petr Yan: ‘Nothing really impresses me’ with current state of bantamweight division

Petr Yan returns to face Merab Dvalishvili in a trilogy bout at UFC 333 on October 24, nearly a year after reclaiming the bantamweight title from his rival in April. Yan has been sidelined since undergoing back surgery in January, and while away, he watched the division move on without impressing him. Song Yadong scored an upset knockout over Umar Nurmagomedov—a fighter Yan has already defeated—and other contenders shuffled positions, but none of the activity has changed his outlook on the title picture.

"Nothing really impresses me," Yan told MMA Fighting. "Some people are winning, some people are losing, but I've beaten Song already. Same kind of people swirling around, so I'm happy to come out and fight everybody and beat everybody."

Yan and Dvalishvili have split their first two meetings, both going the distance with each fighter claiming a convincing performance. Their March 2023 clash ended with Dvalishvili stopping Yan's two-fight losing streak, but Yan bounced back with three consecutive wins to earn the rematch. He then delivered a dominant display at UFC 323 to dethrone Dvalishvili and prevent him from becoming the first UFC fighter to successfully defend a title four times in a single calendar year.

Heading into the trilogy, Yan is focused solely on Dvalishvili. Once that business is settled, he expects the UFC to assign his next challenger. Yan hopes this time to avoid the scorecards. "I think this is going to be just as exciting," he said. "This time around, I want to prove that wasn't a fluke, that there was a reason for that. And hopefully this time it's going to be a knockout."