Petr Yan could sensationally call time on his UFC career just days after losing by split decision to contender Sean O'Malley.
Yan has previously reigned as a UFC bantamweight champion and lost the title after being disqualified for landing an illegal knee in his 2021 defence against current king Aljamain Sterling. Following a win over Cory Sandhagen and a rematch defeat to Sterling, Yan accepted a shot against contender O'Malley who was ranked outside of the top ten.
And in controversial fashion, Yan fell to split decision defeat against the American star despite many feeling the Russian did enough to have his hand raised. After being left aggrieved by the decision, UFC legend Daniel Cormier has claimed Yan feels as if the UFC no longer have his back after the devastating turn of events in Abu Dhabi.
“Ryan, a little inside baseball, Petr Yan is so disappointed in this decision," Cormier revealed on the latest episode of ESPN's DC & RC. "Petr Yan is so disappointed in the decision against O'Malley, that I’m hearing word that this guy may want to look at something different down the line in terms of his career because he just does not feel like, maybe the organisation doesn’t have his back. It’s crazy.”
Yan had issued an immediate reaction to the decision by declaring "F*** the judges" on social media following the disappointing outcome. Despite his loss, the Russian is still considered a leading bantamweight contender and it would be a monumental shock should he decide to turn his back on the UFC after a hugely successful career.
This is the second fight in which Yan feels he has wrongly been on the losing end of a decision having claimed that he should have had his hand raised in his rematch with Sterling last year. Many have now even questioned O'Malley's credentials as a title contender after his controversial win, despite being thrust into No.1 spot in the bantamweight rankings.
Who did you think won the fight - Petr Yan or Sean O'Malley? Let us know in the comments section below
However Marlon Vera has suggested O'Malley deserves a shot at the crown despite himself scoring Yan as the winner of the contest. “A lot of people had 3-0 to Yan. I had 2-1 to Yan,” Vera said on The MMA Hour. “The body language of O’Malley was a body language of, ‘I lost the fight.’ Then when they gave it to him, I thought it was a gift decision, but again, f*** it. The guy won the fight.
"Now he’s going to have a No. 1 next his name I guess, but I believe it was a gift. I believe he got the decision gifted, but we’ll see what happens with that. It was a close fight. Both guys hurt each other, and I think everything comes down to the takedowns and the control time. “For all the people that say he sucks and he’s all talk, I never thought that. I always said before, the guy can fight, the guy is talented, the guy has tools."
