ABU DHABI – Petr Yan dismissed the idea of fighting Umar Nurmagomedov next.
Yan (19-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) made it three-straight wins after defeating Marcus McGhee in Saturday’s UFC on ABC 9 co-main event at Etihad Arena.
Yan was asked about the possibility of facing Nurmagomedov (18-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) next, but after their initial planned booking in June fell through, he’s no longer interested.
“Right now, I’m not interested in fighting Umar in November in Qatar,” Yan told MMA Junkie and other reporters through an interpreter at the post-fight news conference. “I was offered a fight against him in Baku, Azerbaijan. I accepted it; they couldn’t accept it. Then I asked for July, they also couldn’t make it. Right now, I’m only focused on a title shot.”
Merab Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defends his bantamweight title against Cory Sandhagen (18-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in the UFC 320 co-headliner on Oct. 4 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Yan’s most recent loss came to Dvalishvili in March 2023, and he hopes to get the opportunity to avenge that setback.
“Obviously, I prefer to rematch Merab to see how I’ll do against him when I’m healthy,” Yan said. “But, Cory’s also a great fighter, interesting fighter. I had a great fight with him. I believe they’re going to have a good fight, but I just believe Merab’s pressure is going to be a key factor. At some point, Cory’s going to fade.”
