With Henry Cejudo retiring following his win against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249, the bantamweight division is now looking for a new owner of its belt. That also opened a shot for both Petr Yan and Jose Aldo to claim it, as the two are all set to duke it out for the bantamweight title this coming weekend at UFC Fight Island. Read on for more about this fight.
Yan started out in the UFC back in June of 2018. Since then, he’s racked up six wins and zero losses. Overall, he’s only lost once in his MMA career, and that was in 2016 against Magomed Magomedov in ACB 32: Battle of Lions. Before jumping ship into the UFC, Yan was a bantamweight champion in the Absolute Championship Berkut. In Yan’st last fight, he scored a TKO win over Urijah Faber in the undercard of UFC 245: Usman vs. Covington last December. That’s among his six knockout wins of his career, and he also seems to possess a strong chin and great striking defense, as he’s never been knocked out. Yan is averaging 5.65 significant strikes landed per minute and absorbs 3.15 significant strikes per minute. He’s difficult to take down, as suggested by his 87 percent success rate in avoiding takedowns. Yan also defeated the likes of Jimmie Rivera and John Dodson.
Aldo is looking to rebound from his split-decision loss at the hands of Marlon Moraes back in December. That was Aldo’s first taste of the bantamweight division after fighting for so long in the featherweight class, which he used to rule. He once had an 18-fight unbeaten streak snapped when he got knocked out by Conor McGregor at UFC 194 back in 2015. Since that loss to McGregor, Aldo has gone 3-4, with his lt two fights ending in losses. The 33-year-old Brazilian is looking to remain relevant and capture at least a whiff of his former glory in the UFC, so expect him to come prepared for this fight despite his recent setbacks. Aldo will enjoy a three-inch reach advantage against Yan and a two-inch leg reach advantage. Although he’s past his prime, Aldo is still a gifted striker and an experienced one. Aldo has a total of 17 knockout wins against three KO losses.
