After defeating Jose Aldo today at Fight Island in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Petr Yan became the new bantamweight UFC champion.
It was the first of three fights at the UFC 251, and it heated the atmosphere before two other events.
The Russian was the favorite coming into this one, and he immediately showed that once entering the octagon. He was better in the first round, setting up the pace, which Aldo followed in the beginning. Eventually, the Brazilian even managed to win the second round according to the stats and the scorecard.
What a performance by Petr Yan (-250)‼️
Yan beats down Jose Aldo in Round 5 to become the new undisputed Bantamweight champ 🏅pic.twitter.com/Qgr4PVlv0V
— Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) July 12, 2020
Yan pushed up the tempo in the fourth round when he inflicted solid damage to Aldo at the end of the same. Whenever Aldo attacked, the Russian would strike back and hurt the Brazilian. As the round neared its end, Yan would find multiple ways to beat his rival, and eventually, he sent several huge punches, before putting Aldo on his back.
In those moments, it was obvious that the Brazilian is starting to lose his breath and that he isn’t able to follow the tempo in the octagon anymore. He would manage to avoid the stoppage in this situation because the bell saved him, but as soon as the fifth round started, Yan continued in the same fashion.
He would open up with a strong combination, which sent Aldo on the ground and continued with ground-and-pound. The King of Rio was in a bad position, which was obvious, and there was no way for him to avoid loss now. All his attempts to get away from here were denied, and after receiving enough punches, the referee Leon Roberts decided to stop the fight at 3:24.
Petr Yan went off in that final round. #UFC251 pic.twitter.com/199nbpxCYk
— theScore (@theScore) July 12, 2020
This was the 15th career win for Yan, who became one of the youngest UFC champions, and the second Russian champion in the organization at the moment. Many predict him a bright future, because of the style of fight and the fact that he still has enough room for improvement.
Aldo wasted his opportunity to become a champion. This was his third loss in a row. After suffering decision defeats against Alexander Volkanovski and Marlon Moraes, he would now add a stoppage defeat.