Do you consider Petr Yan a legit champ?

LHWBelt said:
He's earned it, he's beaten a lot of top guys. He needs to fight Sterling though. There's a few other guys he needs to take out too. Cejudo for sure if he comes back. Moraes maybe if he gets back in the win column and maybe Sandhagen.

Honestly aside from Adesanya there isn't any dominant looking male champs at the moment imo. That's probably a good thing though as shown by flyweight title fight.
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There's a couple good fights. TJ is back so I'm assuming he needs one win for a title shot. Him vs Sandhagen would be good for the next title shot. Personally he hasn't fought the best in the division yet so he has something to prove for me.
 
Why would Cejudo vacating take anything away from Yan? He had no control over that. His win over a very tough Aldo was really impressive. He's been willing to fight Aljo ever since, it's the UFC getting in the way of that.
 
CBohl said:
He didn't have the most difficult road to the title.


I think Aljo and Marlon have had tougher fights.
His best win is probably Jose Aldo.
I think a win over Aljo makes him actually legit.

Thoughts?
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No I do not.

He did not beat the champ or the next in line, or the next in line. He got to the belt by fighting a series of fighters with loosing records.

That is not to say he is not a legit dude. He may be, but it is difficult to grade him based on how soft his competition is.
 
He’s as legit as they come but I think he loses to Aljo. He would knock Marlon into another dimension.
 
Not really to be honest, but I don't hold mean to belittle the guy. I consider him championship level.

Aljo vs. yan is for the vacant belt in my mind, but I'm not going to go around calling yan a fake champ or shit like that. He's done his job. It's just the UFC didn't do their job and match up the two legit top BWs sooner
 
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Funny. Before Yan won the belt, I said he would easily beat Aldo and legions of Aldo fanbois here on Sherdog said that, "No...leg kicks bro." I said, "Aldo really shouldn't be IN this title fight." And, the same batch of Sherdoggers said, "Yes, he should...leg kicks bro." Then, Yan systematically destroyed Aldo (I mean: Aldo got a big break. Fight should've been stopped in the first round). Now, I feel like some of the same Sherdoggers that were telling me that 1.Aldo was deserving of a title shot, 2. that Aldo would easily beat Yan, and 3. that..."Leg kicks bro" are saying that Yan is not a "legit" champ. STFU. Yan is the champ. Yes, I'd like to see him fight the top contenders (and not part-time fighter, Cejudo)...but it's not his fault these bouts have not come to fruition.

Jarl
 
I mean, he beat Aldo. That's pretty legit. But considering aldo's decline, I'd put a lot more stock into his belt if he beats aljo.
 
If a champ retires and someone else wins the belt, the new champ isn't a champ?

what kind of nonsense is this?
 
Yan's definitely dope, but we all need to see him vs Aljo and I think that one could go either way
 
I considered Sterling-Sandhagen a more important fight than Yan-Aldo because it was higher ranked. Furthermore, Sterling got into that fight with a better win than Yan, and Sandhagen got into that fight with a win, which Aldo didn't have.

Yan's super legit, but this fight should be Sterling's first defense.
 
Yes, truly earned his title shot with 6 wins, just fought whoever they put in front of him, will defend his title against the best challenger, called out triple C multiple times. Like, what more can you ask from this guy? He's getting the best he can that's within his reach.
Of course there's doubt whether he can stay champion with a handful of possible contenders lined up already, but that's why he's here to try defend it.
 
Yes and no. He has the belt so he is the champ. But he beat washed Faber to get a title shot, and a faded Aldo to win the belt. And it was a belt that Henry gave up. It sucks for him that in a lot of people's eyes he will have to legitimize his belt.
 
he´s the champ, won all the fights he was put through to achieve it, so he´s the legit champion
if he´s the best BW, we´ll have to wait and see him defending the belt
 
yea he beat a man who is 0-2 in the division but uhh..... yea sure, because Aldo's a legend.
 
CBohl said:
He didn't have the most difficult road to the title.

I think Aljo and Marlon have had tougher fights.
His best win is probably Jose Aldo.
I think a win over Aljo makes him actually legit.

Thoughts?
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It boils down to semantics I guess, but Yan certainly hasn’t proven that he’s the best bantamweight on the planet. He hasn’t even proven that he’s top five.

Even with Khabib, after beating Iaquinta, it felt like he needed to beat Conor and Tony to consolidate his position (and Khabib was widely considered the best LW well before that).

And Yan has it far, far worse than that. Dillashaw was the champion, then got stripped. Then Cejudo won the belt and then retired. Yan faced neither. He did not beat the lineal champ, the most recent champ, an interim champ, a clear number one contender, or even a top five opponent.

“Legitimate” is subjective, but it’s almost impossible to hold a belt under less impressive circumstances. Bisping and Serra had done a lot less to earn the shot but they beat perfectly legitimate lineal champions, as opposed to someone who was 0-1 in the division and earned the title shot by virtue of looking decent in defeat to a guy who had already been stopped in his own title shot.

It’s not Yan’s fault, but he certainly needs at least another win to feel like more than an interim champ, and more like two wins if he wants to be thought of the way Usman, Adesanya and Stipe are.
 
He's a legitimate champ for sure, but yeah, his run to the title didn't show us much at all. His best win is probably Jimmie. He hasn't fought any other top contenders in the division. And no, Aldo does not count. He hasn't even won a fight at BW.

I thought he acknowledged exactly what I'm saying in an interview, and that he wants to prove himself.
 
Yan has just looked amazing his entire run. So I wouldn't consider him fast tracked for the belt or not a true champ. I wouldn't even know who to bet on a Cejudo/Yan fight.
 
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