Petr Yan--did his performance change your life tonight?

[RichardHarrow]

huge Yan fan - and obviously super happy he won …BUT…. He’s still wayyyy too low volume to hold onto that belt for long - makes all his fights way closer then they need to be

Well observed. But if he manages to replicate this performance I can see him besting Malley and even Umar.

It was a phenomenal performance.

 

[Clark Rogers]

I can honestly say I've never watched a MMA fight and thought ... there it is, life will never be the same!

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

He does have some sadism in his fights where he clearly enjoys beating the shit out of people. Especially vs Uriah Faber. So it got some people into their feelings.

To me, if you are a sadist and love violence, then MMA is the right place for you to be.

Here’s a secret for some fight fans - it’s good to like to hurt people if you are going to fight for a living.

 

[El Fernas]

Made me happy he won, does that count?

 

[HI SCOTT NEWMAN]

The actual fight didn't change my life at all, but the comments on sherdog regarding the fight have!

 

[El Fernas]

You've already heard it and it doesn't bother you. I accept that. Me? I don't root for shitty people no matter how skilled they are: Bones, McGregor, and many more in boxing

I will say this, Yan is not a lowlife criminal. He's just a bully with psychopathic tendencies. He's mean like Roberto Duran. Probably helps make him great. But I don't have to root for him.

Only a few like Mcgregor who cant stop posting and beind a dick to everyone, court cases, and well, Jones who has been involved with the law, for the most part we dont know their true personnalities, its fighting, they all have to be sort of a dick to make to to the top, and must have a thing for violence.

 

[that Indian]

Here’s a secret for some fight fans - it’s good to like to hurt people if you are going to fight for a living.

Of course? It's not a gymnastics forum. Every one of these guys likes inflicting pain on their opponents. As Cub Swanson said: it's beautiful violence.

It's his personality I don't like. And if someone can't tell the difference between a guy like Yan and someone like Holloway, I don't know what to tell you.

We can all have reasons for disliking a fighter, while respecting their skillsets. It's ironic that the word snowflake is used to describe intolerance. As if I'm personally offending people for disliking Yan. There is another 9-letter word for those: d**krider.

 

[that Indian]

Sir. Roberto Duran is one of my all time favorite fighters.

You have good taste in boxing. Here's another guy that's mean as fuck: Terence Crawford. But he's not a psychopathic bully; in fact, he's a humble, likeable dude.

 

[DrunkMonkMeth]

Always had a dislike for yan. Dont even remember why but always happy tovsee crotch sniffers get beat up and unable to use their 1 trick.

 

[HHJ]

Always had a dislike for yan. Dont even remember why but always happy tovsee crotch sniffers get beat up and unable to use their 1 trick.

First of all Yan has never had only one trick, and the guy is far from a crotch sniffer. What bizzaro world did you come from?

 

[that Indian]

First of all Yan has never had only one trick, and the guy is far from a crotch sniffer. What bizzaro world did you come from?

He means Merab. I get that too. I like to see chain wrestling freaks get systematically countered and destroyed like Vartanyan and Musaev do.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

Of course? It's not a gymnastics forum. Every one of these guys likes inflicting pain on their opponents. As Cub Swanson said: it's beautiful violence.

It's his personality I don't like. And if someone can't tell the difference between a guy like Yan and someone like Holloway, I don't know what to tell you.

We can all have reasons for disliking a fighter, while respecting their skillsets. It's ironic that the word snowflake is used to describe intolerance. As if I'm personally offending people for disliking Yan. There is another 9-letter word for those: d**krider.

Some fighters are more athletes or martial artists, they don’t truly love being in a fight and hurting people as much as others, it’s a wide spectrum.

I don’t really care about their personalities that much when I’m watching them fight. It’s an attribute that gives them character, but I watch fights to see cool shit in the spectral of elite violent combat, not wonder which guy I’d want to hang with or look up to morally.

I’m not offended you don’t like him. It’s totally objective and personal. Even people who don’t like him will admit he’s absolutely sick to watch fight.

 

[WoozyFailGuy]

Some fighters are more athletes or martial artists, they don’t truly love being in a fight and hurting people as much as others, it’s a wide spectrum.

I don’t really care about their personalities that much when I’m watching them fight. It’s an attribute that gives them character, but I watch fights to see cool shit in the spectral of elite violent combat, not wonder which guy I’d want to hang with or look up to morally.

I’m not offended you don’t like him. It’s totally objective and personal. Even people who don’t like him will admit he’s absolutely sick to watch fight.

If you want to be a good fighter, you absolutely need a bit of sadism in you, wtf is even this complaint people have.
"He likes to hurt his opponents" no fucking shit lmao. Outside of the knee against Aljo and his fence grabs, Yan isn't some guy who is fish hooking and eye poking trying to fuck guys up for life. He likes kicking ass.

What a pansy reason for not liking a guy

 

[xhaydenx]

First of all Yan has never had only one trick, and the guy is far from a crotch sniffer. What bizzaro world did you come from?

Yeh, what a weird take lol.

I've watched 3 Yan fights in the last 12 hours including the Merab fight, and I don't think he came to sniff crotches in any of them haha. Dude's just a non-stop pressure boxer.

He's not even one trick with his boxing either, which isn't how I remember. Dude landed some sweet spinning shit on Ishihara and Cory. Dropped Cory with a spinning back fist to punch combo that was slick as fuck.

 

[The Legendary Scarface]

A masterful performance in the face of an indomitable opponent.

Yan showed up stronger, trickier, and psychologically primed to grind through one of the grindiest champions BW has ever seen.

It often seemed Aljo and Merab were challenges he couldn't quite solve-- in the aftermath, some claimed he was emotionally incapable of overcoming these tough losses. The fatal, psychological flaw of this gifted fighter ensured that the electrifying Petr Yan era was over.

And yet, here we are. This wiry, cerebral 135-pound russian gremlin has given us the definitive MMA performance of 2025. It wasn't only his superb skill and fight IQ that impressed us. It was the culmination of a psychological odyssey through failure and an admission of weakness, bad faith, and cognitive dissonance. He gave us the best version of Yan that we deserved, but his fickle pride robbed us of. A long journey home, passing through one last gatekeeper-- the most inexorable cardio beast BW has ever seen.

I am pumped up about this, sherdog. I'm going to make some pasta and go for a run, and ponder my next move. What about you? Are you as drunk and inspired as I am? Share your most existential thoughts with me.

Performance of the year.

 

[that Indian]

Some fighters are more athletes or martial artists, they don’t truly love being in a fight and hurting people as much as others, it’s a wide spectrum.

I don’t really care about their personalities that much when I’m watching them fight. It’s an attribute that gives them character, but I watch fights to see cool shit in the spectral of elite violent combat, not wonder which guy I’d want to hang with or look up to morally.

I’m not offended you don’t like him. It’s totally objective and personal. Even people who don’t like him will admit he’s absolutely sick to watch fight.

Absolutely. As a fight fan, I enjoy watching Yan fight. I sing his praises. As a moral human, I also enjoy watching him lose.

However, he can now put an asterisk besides all of his losses. How many people with 5 losses can say that?

 

[FilipEmoFights]

Fuck man now the fighters are going to actually fight instead of grapple

DC is going to be out of his depth on commentary now

 

[prime_lobov]

It changed the balance in my draftkings to 0

 

[Chama]

I knew it was possible and I wanted it to happen so bad. And now that it has I just feel stunned by the surreal glory of violence we witnessed. Unforgettable performance, as good as fighting gets in many ways.

Yer username suits alrite

 

[Chama]

Fuck man now the fighters are going to actually fight instead of grapple

DC is going to be out of his depth on commentary now

Lol

Sorry, i respect Merab, but there was only one machine yesterday in that octagon.. and it was Yan.

Amazing fighter.