Petr Yan hopes to serve as motivation after incredible career comeback story: 'Keep moving forward'

Yan was counted out by many after a dramatic losing skid, but he silenced those doubters after regaining his bantamweight title last December Somewhat lost in the pageantry and historical relevance of Saturday's UFC bantamweight title trilogy in Abu Dhabi is the fact that two-time champion Petr Yan is in the midst of one of the greatest comeback arcs in recent memory. Yan (20-5), who regained the title from Merab Dvalishvili (21-5) last December in their rematch via upset decision, will be the betting favorite when the two meet for a third time in the co-main event of UFC 333 inside Etihad Arena. And the current standing of the pound-for-pound ranked native of Russia is a far cry from where the 33-year-old Yan was just a few years ago.

In 2020, Yan was on top of the MMA world after stopping Brazilian legend Jose Aldo in the fifth round of their vacant 135-pound title bout. With a 15-1 record, a well-rounded game and an intimidating mean streak, Yan looked like the long-term future of the division. All of that would drastically change, of course, in his next fight when poor decision making led to him losing his title to Aljamain Sterling via disqualification for an illegal knee to a downed opponent in a fight he was winning. Even though Yan