Defining Fights: UFC 251’s Petr Yan

MMA Junkie’s Simon Head takes a look back through the fights that helped define the career of UFC bantamweight title challenger Petr Yan.

Magomed Magomedov at ‘ACB 57: Payback’ – April 15, 2017

At the appropriately-monikered “ACB 57: Payback,” Yan and Magomedov met for a second time, as the still-unbeaten Magomedov put his title on the line in one of the most eagerly-anticipated rematches of the year in Europe.

Feeling wronged by the events of the first meeting, Yan fought like a man possessed in the rematch, and he produced a brilliant display to outpoint the champion and send Magomedov to the first loss of his career, wiping out the memory of their controversial first meeting and capturing the championship belt he felt he deserved 12 months earlier.

Yan went on to defend the ACB title with a third-round finish of the previously-undefeated Brazilian Matheus Mattos before signing for the UFC.

Next up: A knockout debut