Petr Yan vs Deiveson Figueiredo UFC Macau RESULT: Former champion dominates in five round slug-fest
Today at 09:20 AM
Petr Yan was at his dominant best as he defeated Deiveson Figueiredo over the five round distance at UFC Macau in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The bantamweight duo are both former UFC world champions, and understood that this could be their last chance to secure a shot at Merab Dvalishvili’s title. And after the pair promised excitement with their respective striking styles, they started on the ground for the most part.
They had a tough few acts to follow after a series of vicious stoppages, and it seemed that Figueiredo was more keen to take it to the ground early. But Yan managed to get it back to the feet, where he showed off his impressive striking over the five rounds.
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Petr Yan defeats Deiveson Figueiredo by Unanimous Decision
The first round kicked off with the Brazilian showing his ability to land the takedown, but it was actually Petr Yan who managed to take control once he got off his back. Deiveson Figueiredo had been vocal about his belief that the Russian was limited on the ground during the pre-fight build.
But he did well to get back up, and by the second round he managed to show off his superior striking and begin to take control of the proceedings. His uppercut was the punch of choice as he managed to land seemingly at will.
The third was the clearest of the night for Yan, as he dropped Figueiredo with one of his big uppercuts while his rival was looking to level change. He pushed for the finish but was unable to get it, leading him to an aggressive start to the fourth.
He immediately got the Brazilian down again at the beginning of the championship rounds, and managed to stuff a takedown. The fight had to be paused for a few seconds in the fourth as Figueiredo had his mouthpiece knocked out.
Towards the end of the fourth, the tide looked like it may be beginning to turn for Figueiredo, and the Brazilian started the fifth strong. Neither man appeared to slow heading into the final championship round, and were pushing for the finish with big power shots.
While Figueiredo came on very strong as the finish approached, he was unable to get the all-important stoppage that would have saved him. And Yan moved on to a second straight victory with a 50-45 scorecard across the board in his pursuit of another title run.
Merab Dvalishvili viewed UFC Macau main event as true number one contender bout
Over the past few months, it has seemed that Umar Nurmagomedov is the top contender at 135lb. But heading into Saturday’s main event, the indications from champion Dvalishvili were that he viewed the winner of this bout as having a more legitimate claim to a shot at his belt.
Both men have held gold in the promotion before, and it seems that Dvalishvili is not convinced that the undefeated Nurmagomedov has done enough to solidify himself as the top contender. "Merab's plan is to fight me. He's made it pretty clear already," Figueiredo said before the bout.
"He wants to fight me, he wants to test himself against me. I want to win this fight now so we can fight for the belt. I want this opportunity against him, too. Dana, send me the contract that I'll be ready to fight him.
“I'm 36 and I have no time to waste. I'll stay active after this fight, just waiting for my opportunity when they call me… [Yan] opens himself a lot, and we worked to make sure we knock him out and earn our shot at the belt."
