Petr Yan currently has no interest in fighting recent title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov and he has slammed his rise in the promotion.
This past Saturday, former bantamweight champion Petr Yan returned to the Octagon when he took on soaring contender Marcus McGhee in the UFC Abu Dhabi co-main event.
After suffering three losses in a row, ‘No Mercy’ was in a strange spot in his career. However he went on to bounce back from his losses with two impressive wins, extending it to three in a row after picking up the unanimous decision win over McGhee.
And following his closely fought decision win, the 32-year-old called for a title rematch against Merab Dvalishvili after revealing earlier this week that he would play the back-up role for the UFC 320 co-main event.
Petr Yan turns down fight against Umar Nurmagomedov as he slams his UFC rise
Despite picking up the impressive win to make it three in a row, some fans believe that Yan should fight once more before he is given another title shot.
And with that, there have been calls for him to fight recent bantamweight title contender Umar Nurmagomedov, who hasn’t fought since his UFC 311 loss to Dvalishvili.
However, ‘No Mercy’ Yan is seemingly uninspired by a potential fight against his fellow countryman, and has slammed Nurmagomedov’s rise in the UFC, touching on his family relations to Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev.
“Well, Umar lost his last fight, he hasn’t had a single fight yet since, they have the option to wait and not train at all, it could be a year, six months. I need to act, to work, to pave the way for myself with my labor. Neither my brother nor my sisters have given me anything,” Yan told Ushatayka.
Could Petr Yan weigh in as backup at UFC 320?
After having declared his interest in weighing in as the back up for Dvalishvili’s UFC 320 title defence against Cory Sandhagen, having come out of his fight against McGhee without injuries, it is certainly a possibility.
However, as has been proved in recent months, weighing in as a backup will not guarantee Yan the next title shot and cutting weight so soon after his UFC Abu Dhabi fight may not be the best idea.
