Petr Yan

Petr Evgenyevich Yan (; born 11 February 1993) is a Russian professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is a former UFC Bantamweight Champion. Yan formerly fought in Absolute Championship Berkut where he is a former ACB Bantamweight Champion. As of May 9, 2023, he is #5 in the UFC bantamweight rankings. Early life and education Yan was born to a father of mixed Chinese-Georgian descent and a Russian mother. In sixth grade, Yan began training in ITF Taekwondo and often fought in the streets and at the school in his area, so his family often moved to try and prevent this. Yan's older brother trained in boxing in the city of Dudinka, Krasnoyarsk Krai, and Petr wanted to learn how to box too. But his elder brother initially refused to take Petr along with him, so Petr decided to sneak and follow his brother to go to learn the sport of boxing. From then on, Petr went on to train in boxing for 8 years and achieved the rank of Master of Sport in Boxing in the 64 kg weight category. Yan graduated from the Siberian Federal University in the city of Omsk with a degree in Physical Culture and Sport. Mixed martial arts career Early career Yan debuted in MMA at the Eurasian Fighting Championship - Baikal Fight in December 2014. He won via third-round knockout over Murad Bakiev, who was also a debutant. In 2015, Yan signed a contract with the Russian promotion Absolute Championship Berkut. He was said to have gained many fans after his debut with the promotion where he fought Brazilian fighter Renato Velame, who at the time, already had 26 fights in his MMA career. However, Yan won this fight by decision. In Yan's third fight, he fought and beat Kharon Orzumiev by first-round submission in just 47 seconds. In his following fight, Yan knocked out Artur Mirzakhanyan in the first round which was held at Professional Fight Night 10: Russia Cup.