That is three straight victories for former UFC champion Petr Yan.
Selection framework names Head UFC Abu Dhabi this Saturday. Former middleweight champion Robert Whittaker and former two-time Bantamweight Champion Petr Yan defend their top 5 rankings against rising contenders Reinier de Ridder and Marcus Mcghee.
Although he was told to wait for a UFC title fight, Yan decided to stay active and the ladder against #12-ranged McRghee to fight with how Yan fought his low-arranged teammate Sean O'Malley in 2022.
It is a huge step in the competition for the 35-year-old Mcghee, who is 4-0 in the UFC.
Yan took his unbeaten UFC record and dreams of becoming a UFC champion.
Photo by Mike Roach/Zuffa LLC
Petr Yan beats Marcus Mcghee in Close Contest at UFC Abu Dhabi
It was a striking affair between Yan and Mcghee, in which both men stood their land in the opening round.
Yan connected with a left hand for two minutes and the bantam weights exchanged strikes, with Mcghee Outlanding Yan towards the end of the round.
The former champion sent Mcghee back with a beautiful step-in elbow to the face. Yan kept stalking Mcghee and opened a cut on his face. Mcghee would not go back down and immediately throw shots back to Yan. Yan returned with a flying knee.
Yan tore bumps to the body and the head and used his puncture effectively.
In the third round, Yan pulled out his struggle and pulled Mcghee down, with his opponent up again. Yan checked Mcghee for a large part of the round against the cage.
Yan tried a kimura in the last seconds of the third round and reached the distance. Yan defeated Mcghee via a unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).
After the victory, Yan called the winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen.
Petr Yan could be confronted with the winner of Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen
Yan's victory over Mcghee comes a few days after the next Bantamweight Title Fight was announced.
In the Co-Main event of UFC 320, champion Dvalishvili will defend his title for the third time against multi-year competitions Sandhagen.
Yan has previously confronted both men and defeated Cory Sandhagen to win the interim -bantamweight title in 2021, but the former champion lost a crooked decision to Dvalishvili in 2023.
Yan has won three consecutive battles, with victories over Mcghee, Deiveson Figueiredo and Song Yadong – all ranked contenders.