Petr Yan vs Song Yadong in the works for UFC 299
UFC 299 is shaping up to be an epic night of fights to look forward to come early next year, and just as the event will be headlined by a bantamweight title bout between current champion Sean O’Malley (17-1) and the only man to ever defeat him in Marlon Vera (21-8-1), we also have another bantamweight scrap of contenders between former champion Petr Yan (16-5) and Song Yadong (21-7-1) that’s in the works for this event.
UFC 299 is to go down on March 9, 2024, live from the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida.
Petr Yan has had a bit of a rough go as of late, falling from 15-1 to 16-5 over the course of his latest five appearances following a 7-0 run to begin his UFC tenure. The thing is, he could honestly be 20-1 or 19-2 as a professional rather than 16-5.
Here’s why:
Yan’s first career defeat came via split decision to Magomed Magomedov back in 2016 when they fought for the ACB bantamweight championship. Yan was just 5-0 going into this fight while Magomedov was 11-0.
The two would rematch 13 months later where Yan would be awarded the unanimous decision victory, along with the ACB bantamweight title. He’d go on to defend it a single time prior to joining the UFC’s roster.
Yan’s next defeat would come via DQ against former champion Aljamain Sterling in their UFC title fight back in 2021, a fight he was handily winning. Following victory over no. 4 ranked Cory Sandhagen, Yan would challenge Sterling for the belt he unrightfully lost, losing a disputed split decision.
Next would come another disputed split decision defeat, this one coming to current champion Sean O’Malley, before he was completely shut down by no. 2 ranked Merab Dvalishvili earlier this year in March, the only time he’d ever convincingly lost a fight.
Now the no. 5 ranked former champion looks to right those wrongs with a win over Chinese standout Song Yadong.
Yadong, our no. 7 ranked bantamweight contender, has been incredibly impressive thus far into his UFC journey, and having just turned 26 years of age two weeks ago, sky is the limit for this young stud.
Yadong has gone 10-2-1 thus far into his promotional tenure, most recently defeating the likes of Julio Arce, Marlon Moraes, Ricky Simon, and Chris Gutierrez. He’s big for the 135 lb division, whereas Yan has always been a relatively small bantamweight, and he’s perhaps the hardest hitter in bantamweight history with ever-improving technique.
This is going to be a good one you do not want to miss!
Who walks away from this epic bantamweight contest going down at UFC 299 the victor?
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