Petr Yan folded Urijah Faber like a deckchair in the final round of their 2019 bout at UFC 245.
Yan was unbeaten in the UFC following his debut one year prior and confirmed his shot at championship gold after the devastating knockout victory.
The 31-year-old would go on to finish MMA veteran Jose Aldo in his next bout to claim the UFC bantamweight strap for the first time.
‘No Mercy’ takes on Deiveson Figueiredo in the main event of UFC Fight Night 248 on Saturday night at the Galaxy Arena in Macau, China.
Elsewhere on the China card, No.2 ranked women’s strawweight Yan Xiaonan faces Brazil’s Tabatha Ricci and Song Kenan challenges Muslim Salikhov in his native country.
Yan was on the edge of a title shot as a top four bantamweight contender when he headed into his Las Vegas bout with a 40-year-old Faber after going five fights unbeaten from his June 2018 debut.
Faber, who was making his last-ever UFC appearance as the No.12 ranked bantamweight, had come out of retirement and defeated Ricky Simon by first-round TKO going into the fight.
‘The California Kid’ was an MMA veteran compared to Yan, having been inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame as part of the Modern-era wing and competed in four title contests during a largely successful 13-year career with Dana White’s promotion.
Faber is also well known for coaching on The Ultimate Fighter, which his team member Ryan Hall won, alongside Conor McGregor in 2015.
Yan—the favourite and fighting out of Yekaterinburg, Russia—displayed excellent takedown defence in the opening round of the pair’s bout, but Faber was able to find openings with his left hook around the former’s guard.
Both men looked filled with energy at the beginning of the fight as they stood toe-to-toe, with Yan largely on the front foot and regularly switching stances to avoid any onslaught from Faber.
Midway through the second round Faber attempted a single-leg takedown, but Yan defended well and followed up with a brilliant combination that floored the American for the first time.
Faber did well to avoid being put to sleep and even stunned Yan himself, before being caught with a nasty elbow in the clinch that put him on both knees.
Faber, who was now bleeding heavily from his opponent’s elbow, was dragged to the ground again and the doctor was forced to check a gruesome cut on his right eye, but the bout continud.
Yan had 30 more significant strikes over his opponent as we entered the third and final round when the Russian would seal the deal.
Just 30 seconds into round three, Yan forced himself out of a clinch and caught the California native with a nasty left head kick that immediately sent him crashing to the mat.
In the aftermath of the bout, UFC commentator Joe Rogan said: “He is the absolute real deal folks—just so strong—even in the clinch when he gets hit he’s just so rigid.”
Yan defeated Aldo in his next fight at UFC 251 to be crowned the new bantamweight champion.
He then lost the 135 lbs strap to Aljamain Sterling in March 2021, before claiming interim status by overcoming Cory Sandhagen seen months later.
The Russian then went on a three-fight losing streak, falling to Sterling in the pair’s rematch, before also suffering defeats to Sean O’Malley and current bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili.
Yan then defeated Song Yadong one year later and takes on MMA veteran Figueiredo on Saturday night as the No.3 ranked bantamweight fighter in order to earn another title shot.
Umar Nurmagomedov is the No.2 ranked bantamweight and it is likely that Yan will face the winner of him vs Dvalishvili should he get past 36-year-old Figueiredo.