Petr Yan needs one other shot at gold after taking out Marcus McGhee within the UFC Abu Dhabi co-main occasion.
Regardless of dealing with a decrease ranked opponent, Yan didn’t get distracted or take his opponent without any consideration as he went out and placed on one other traditional efficiency. Yan displayed his signature putting and combined issues up sufficient that McGhee was caught reacting to his each transfer.
When it was over, the judges all scored the struggle 29-28 with Yan securing the victory.
“My opponent was a powerful man,” Yan mentioned following his win. “I’m very pleased. My opponent was good.
“Now Merab [Dvalishvili] will struggle Cory Sandhagen. Everyone is aware of I fought Cory Sandhagen, I beat him and now I need to struggle who wins the title struggle [next].”
Earlier than he known as for his shot on the bantamweight champion, Yan first needed to dispatch McGhee, which was simpler mentioned than achieved in the course of the early moments within the struggle.
A gradual begin led into some exhausting exchanges between the bantamweights with Yan clubbing McGhee with a stiff hook after which McGhee firing proper again at him. McGhee stayed energetic, buying and selling punch for punch with Yan on the toes.
Yan linked with a tough shot however then McGhee got here proper again with one among his personal that seemingly caught the Russian off steadiness.
The second spherical noticed extra aggression from Yan however McGhee was prepared to fulfill the problem as he blasted the previous champion with a number of stiff photographs. Simply when McGhee was beginning to achieve confidence, Yan unloaded a large shot that rattled his opponent.
McGhee was bleeding however refused to again down, though Yan hit him with one other staggering proper hand that in all probability would have put most fighters down. Yan began mixing issues up much more earlier than throwing one other straight proper that snapped McGhee’s head backwards in a violent movement.
Whereas McGhee was hanging powerful, Yan was punishing him with quick, rapid-fire mixtures that basically confirmed off his boxing acumen. Yan finally closed the space and truly appeared for a takedown however finally began throwing thudding knees into McGhee’s legs.
Yan received a late journey takedown and grabbed onto a kimura briefly however McGhee was fast to reverse and get out of the place. The ending didn’t matter a lot by that time as a result of Yan already secured the win as the previous bantamweight champion continues his hunt to reclaim the title he misplaced simply over 4 years in the past.
