Petr Yan prepares for a bantamweight fight against Urijah Faber during UFC 245 (Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images)
Petr Yan is to fight for the UFC Bantamweight title in a week’s time but hit out at two stars
UFC Bantamweight contender Petr Yan has a huge fight against Jose Aldo at UFC 251. The Russian is 14-1 in his UFC career and will fight for the vacant Bantamweight title after Henry Cejudo retired.
Yan might be the slight favourite for the title against his more experienced rival, but he seems to be perturbed regarding a couple of UFC stars.
The 27-year-old hit out at Jack Shore and Nathaniel Wood, who are to feature in upcoming UFC cards. Yan suggested that the pair ducked out of a tough clash and instead took easier opponents. The Russian also didn’t want either of them to be associated with the UFC:
“Shore and Wood declined to fight my cornerman on short notice. This 2 cowards don’t deserve to be the part of best fight organization in the world, because they picked easier options for themselves”
Anderson dos Santos was to face Shore, but Santos tested positive for Covid-19. Shore will now face Aaron Phillips at Fight Island in just over a week’s time.
Wood takes on Umar Nurmagomedov on 26 July, and it will be interesting to see how the two stars do after Yan’s call out.
Although the Russian is the slight favourite for his title clash, he has to be wary of Aldo. The Brazilian has a ton of experience in the UFC and is a two-time Featherweight Champion.
Aldo has a record of 28 wins and six losses with four of those losses coming in his last six fights. Yan, for his part, is on a nine-fight win streak in his MMA career.
He is yet to lose a fight since coming to the UFC and defeated Urijah Faber in his last clash which took place at UFC 245 in December 2019.
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