The Future of The Bantamweight Division!
The Bantamweight division has a reputation as one of the UFC's most exhilarating and competitive weight classes. On March 11, Yan and Dvalishvili will face off to determine the division's future!
The UFCs Bantamweight division had been overlooked for the longest time, with fans favoring the company’s more significant weight classes, such as Welterweight or Middleweight. Still, fans hadn’t realized that Bantamweight had the potential to take over the UFC, and that is precisely what it’s doing now!
With some of the most ferocious and electrifying fighters, the Bantamweight division has blessed the UFC with household names, such as Dominick Cruz, TJ Dillashaw, Sean O'Malley, Henry Cejudo, and Cody Garbrandt, to name a few. Still, there was always one fighter that flourished in the face of danger: Petr “No Mercy” Yan. Straight out of Russia, Petr Yan could very well be the love child of Ivan Drago and Fedor Emelianenko; with such a quick and versatile skillset, the former boxer had taken entirely over the Bantamweight division after Henry Cejudo vacated the belt in 2020 at UFC 249.
Yan would face backlash after losing to Aljamain Sterling in his first-ever title defense by disqualification. In round number four of their very first fight, Yan landed an illegal knee and was forced to relinquish the belt to Sterling. Even though Yan completely dominated their first encounter, his aggressive style and antagonistic personality led many to believe that Yan’s illegal knee was intentional. Petr would have to earn his way back to the top! He was set to fight Cory Sandhagen for the Interim Bantamweight championship. The winner could unite the belts in a main event brawl against the new champion Aljamain Sterling. As Yan and Sandhagen competed for the Interim Bantamweight championship, a new contender emerged to clean up the division. Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili is part of the Serra-Longo Fight Team, founded by former welterweight champion Matt Serra and includes current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling.
Yan would win his fight against Cory, and with his sights on the belt, he trained ferociously for his upcoming bout with Sterling. However, things didn't favor Yan during their second bout. In their first fight, Yan completely dominated Aljamain; despite Sterling being the more experienced and superior grappler, Yan dominated him with his superior boxing knowledge. Yan countered every attack thrown at him and even out-grappled Sterling, which was surprising. It seemed like Sterling wanted to show off and prove to the world that he was at the same striking level as Yan, but that was clearly not the case.
In their second fight, Sterling would take a more strategic approach to his game plan, the tables had turned, and using his superior grappling, the champion would dismantle Yan on the ground, piece by piece. Yan ended up losing to Aljamain Sterling by a split decision. Yan seemed lost, he could not fight for the title straight away, and even if he wanted to, Sterling was already booked to fight the former champion, TJ Dillashaw. The UFC matchmakers seemed to be at a loss until one fighter made his name heard and his intentions known! “Suga” Sean O'Malley would step up to fight the man nobody wanted to fight; on a three-fight win streak, O'Malley would risk it all against his most formidable opponent yet!
Sean O'Malley and Petr Yan would fight on the main card of UFC 280 and win the night's fight after one of the most electrifying back-and-forth exchanges to come out of a UFC octagon in a long time. O'Malley would take home the split-decision victory and be moved up the rankings to number one. On the other hand, Yan is on his first-ever losing streak!
On March 11, Yan will face Dvalishvili, and the future of the Bantamweight division will be decided. Currently, Aljamain Sterling is set to fight Henry Cejudo for the undisputed UFC Bantamweight championship. However, if Yan defeats Dvalishvili, he may be in line for an Interim title shot against O'Malley. The winner of that bout could then face either Cejudo or Sterling. The year 2023 promises to be exciting for the Bantamweight division, but the question remains: out of all these contenders, who will ultimately reign supreme by the end of 2023?