UFC Fight Night took place on Saturday morning in Macau with a bantamweight main event pitting former bantamweight champion Petr Yan against former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo. After five eventful rounds, Yan made a unanimous decision to put himself in a position to fight for the title again.
Figueiredo wasted no time in putting his game plan into action by nixing the fight and recapturing Yan. Yan was able to relax and avoid Figueiredo's attempts at a rear-naked choke or armbar until he managed to reverse the position and land in Figueiredo's guard. From there, Yan spent the rest of the opening round throwing heavy ground and pound punches.
Both men had moments of landing good punches in the second round before the next defining moment in the fight came when Yan knocked Figueiredo down with a fierce uppercut in the third round. Figueiredo was able to recover and get back to his feet, but was now in poor positioning both on the feet and on the ground, which gave him a clue as to how he could change the tone of the fight.
Yan appeared to be in complete control of the fight and Figueiredo appeared increasingly frustrated, only for Figueiredo to score a knockdown of his own in round 4 after damaging Yan with a knee to the body. Like Figueiredo before him, Yan was able to recover quickly, but it was a moment that proved the former flyweight world champion was still dangerous even when Yan appeared to be in full control.
The fifth round featured some fantastic two-way action with huge punches from both men heading to the final bell, cementing the fight as a late entry into the Fight of the Year discussion.
Despite the competitive nature of the bout, there was little doubt who would raise their hand after the scorecards were read. All three judges gave scorecards with a score of 50-45, all in favor of Yan.
“I felt like I was leading the fight, but anything can happen in the UFC,” Yan said after the fight, referencing some controversial scorecards in his past fights.
Yan turned his attention to newly crowned bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili, who had labeled Figueiredo the No. 1 contender in the division before the fight. Yan demanded a rematch with Dvalishvili, who won a decision win over Yan in March 2023.
