Petr Yan did not pass physics – Sport – Kommersant

Petr Yan’s attempt to again come close to the UFC champion title, which had recently belonged to the Russian fighter, the main promotion in mixed martial arts (MMA), in the bantamweight (up to 61 kg) turned into a complete collapse. For the first time in his career, Jan suffered such a defeat, which can not be called either controversial or accidental. Georgian Merab Dvalishvili had an overwhelming advantage over the Russian in speed and activity throughout all five rounds, and now it is he who will probably have to fight for the title in the near future.

The result of the fight in Las Vegas between Peter Yan and Merab Dvalishvili – two fighters located close to the top in the UFC rating and, therefore, figuring out which of them would probably have a chance to become a contender for the champion title – is an absolute sensation. And the point is not that Jan, who quite recently, a couple of years ago, owned this title and was generally considered the undisputed leader of the lightest weight at some point, was quoted higher than Dvalishvili, who was less experienced in terms of participating in top fights. After all, in the UFC, underdogs often beat and favorites are much more obvious. The point is in the style of this misfire of the Russian fighter, which should have made a shock impression on those who know his biography well.

In the track record of Peter Yan during his performances in mixed martial arts before the collision with Merab Dvalishvili, there were four defeats. But they were all very specific – almost no defeat at all.

In 2016, while still a very raw fighter, Yang lost a split decision to Magomed Magomedov. The next three losses are already in the period after his peak in the main MMA promotion.

In the spring of 2021, Petr Yan parted ways with the title he won a few months ago, losing to Aljamain Sterling due to a stupid mistake: in a fever inflicted an already practically defeated opponent is a prohibited knee strike to the head.

In 2022, in a second collision with Sterling, Yan, who managed to overcome Cory Sandhagen had an overwhelming advantage in the end, and the first rounds were more or less equal. However, two of the three referees saw the winner in Sterling, who barely reached the finish line, and their verdict was met with hostility by almost the entire fighting community, including UFC head Dana White. Finally, at the end of October last year, two of the three referees again chose his opponent – Sean O’Malley, although the segments of Yang’s dominance in the octagon were quite long, while O’Malley did not have them.

And in principle it seemed that the indefatigable, ready to work without pauses Petr Yan could lose indisputably only because of some exceptionally unfortunate set of circumstances. But Merab Dvalishvili dealt with him the way seasoned fighters deal with fighters who start their professional career in an elite promotion and are not yet accustomed to a new level of resistance after the previous one, in second-rate organizations.

It was not a happy insight that visited the Georgian. It was a demonstration of total superiority in all aspects – both those that seemed to be his strengths, and those that were clearly not drawn to such.

Well, let’s say, unlike Jan, Dvalishvili has never been known as an elite “drummer”. In Las Vegas, he landed 202 hits on target, using a combination of punches and stinging lowkicks, to just 87 for the Russian. The Georgian, however, confirmed the assumption that the puncher from him was so-so, but in any case, Jan received serious damage and ended the fight with a swollen right eye and, it seems, a terribly painful supporting left leg.

But the picture associated with the wrestling component of the match is even brighter. In five rounds, Merab Dvalishvili made 49 takedown attempts – transferring the opponent to the ground. It was a new UFC record. And the previous one – 33 attempts by the American heavyweight Cain Velasquez – has been holding on since 2012. Of these attacks Dvalishvili embodied in the result 11, but this is terribly many.

Yang had never been on the floor so often. And he, in turn, did not actually bother Dvalishvili with the fight.

And the most important. Petr Yan’s trump card has always been “physics”, the ability to add at the finish line. In this fight, Merab Dvalishvili, having started abruptly, did not slow down until its completion, all the time ahead of Jan by half a bar or a whole bar, although the Georgian had not yet played five-round matches and seemed to be obliged to feel discomfort towards the end of the marathon. But no, he continued to perform offensive actions with a fantastic frequency, almost every second.

This judicial decision was not fraught with riddles. All three arbitrators gave the win with a maximum margin – 50:45 – to Dvalishvili, who won the ninth consecutive victory. It must be assumed that soon they will give him participation in the championship fight, especially since the Georgian is friends with Aljamain Sterling and even trains together. Yang’s fate is shrouded in thick fog. In any case, after three failures in a row, no matter how controversial two of them looked, rarely anyone is left at the forefront of the queue for the title.

Alexey Dospekhov