Who Does Petr Yan Fight Next?

[xhaydenx]

I disagree about Yan having lots of trouble with guys in round 1, it's kind of revisionist history - until Sterling he'd won the first round against every single UFC opponent: Ishihara, Jin Too Son, Silva de Andrade, Dodson, Rivera, Faber, Aldo. That's 8 first-rounds in a row he wins to start his UFC career and somehow he "always gives away the first round" according to some.

It's definitely pretty crazy/strange that he loses the first round to Sterling both times with Sterling not getting a takedown either time. Yan also lost the first-round to Corey, so I guess there became some sort of narrative around that time painting him as a slow-starter, when he really isn't in 3-round fights - against Aldo in his first 5-rounder is when we saw him fight a slower pace and almost lose the first until he landed that body shot. He was also losing the first against Rivera before he dropped him with like 10 seconds left in the round, but because of the Jellyfish incident (had to travel 20 hours and cut weight after getting badly stung) prior I think it's fair to give him a pass in that one. It's fair to say he starts slow and tends to give away the first in 5-round fights because he feels with his style/approach he'll come on strong late in the fight - which he is 100% right about, he always does. It's just a razor's edge approach against top-level fighters if you don't make those adjustments by the middle of the second.

I think you just highly overrate Gutierrez and his improvements - the fight against Durden was 2 years ago when he was 29 and already had 20+ pro fights, he'd been fighting pro for 7-8 years and basically in his prime. You were saying that realistically you could see Gutierrez catching Yan and finishing him, when again he's never been finished/rarely is hurt (has insane chin) and Gutierrez has an over-inflated KO ratio in 9 fights since it's only 3 with 1 leg kick TKO and the other being Edgar's retirement fight. He isn't a hitter and yet somehow he is going to KO a notoriously tough guy to hurt/finish?

Yan also is incredibly fast comparatively and he'd have more diverse attacks, better defensive layers, better pressure, and just overall a more systematic approach. It would likely look a lot like Nathaniel Wood vs. Charles Jourdain just even more dominant for the slightly smaller but faster/smarter/more diverse fighter.

The "giving away the first round" thing does get overblow, I'll admit. It's more that he always gets outlanded in those rounds, even if he does actually win them. I think Guti is closer to the level of Cory and Aljo than some of the other, lesser guys Yan's faced, and would have a higher chance of taking that first round. Again, not because he's way better, but just because of the way Yan likes to take his time in r1.

I had no idea about the jelly fish incident with Yan. That's wild.

Maybe Yan would still win and I am overrating Guti a bit, but I don't think it'd be anything like Woods/Jourdain. Guti doesn't fight like either guy, even if Yan does fight similar to Woods. Guti likes his space while Jourdain doesn't really care. Then again, Yan's forward pressure is stronger than Woods', and he might be able to force it on Guti anyway, in which case Guti would be getting wrecked lol.

 

[Raptors2019]

He's thinking to leave the company ...

As he should. Corrupt pieces of shit judges.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

The "giving away the first round" thing does get overblow, I'll admit. It's more that he always gets outlanded in those rounds, even if he does actually win them. I think Guti is closer to the level of Cory and Aljo than some of the other, lesser guys Yan's faced, and would have a higher chance of taking that first round. Again, not because he's way better, but just because of the way Yan likes to take his time in r1.

I had no idea about the jelly fish incident with Yan. That's wild.

Maybe Yan would still win and I am overrating Guti a bit, but I don't think it'd be anything like Woods/Jourdain. Guti doesn't fight like either guy, even if Yan does fight similar to Woods. Guti likes his space while Jourdain doesn't really care. Then again, Yan's forward pressure is stronger than Woods', and he might be able to force it on Guti anyway, in which case Guti would be getting wrecked lol.

I just haven't seen enough from Gutierrez to think he's on the level of Sandhagen with his stand-up; he has some really nice clean technique and combinations but he's also kind of flat-footed in spots and just sits on guys waiting to counter instead of building attacks. He's also prone to being pressured, needs space to get his kicking game going, and is kind of stiff with no head movement defensively.

Yan's biggest weakness is that he prefers to use a high-guard as a defensive shell to roll with shots and use his eyes to make reads for counters. He can get caught ups he middle because of this with linear strikes, so if he took a bad shot he could get timed with a knee or he could always possibly get hit with that perfect shot with a straight left from Gutierrez, which he throws really clean. It's just Yan doesn't really shoot on guys without setting it up or it being reactive (he took a bad shot once against Suga when he got cut by the knee) and Gutierrez is not a one-hitter historically with his hands, he's far more dangerous with his kicks.

He does seem to be tough as nails, so he might just be able to keep working his way up or breaking to the outside and just spamming kicks, but using a power-heavy outside kicking game to outwork your opponent at bantamweight is really tricky to make work against the best of the best. Against other tall/lanky guys that want to kick-box with him he's going to be really effective just creating a war of attrition, so when you match him up with guys that don't have grappling or pressure games he looks like an absolute killer.

But if I'm being honest Gutierrez has a lot of holes defensively and his game is predicated around him having time and space to get his kicking game going. He hasn't been matched up against any legit pressure fighters or wrestlers, so even though he's put on nice performances it's nothing to show me he's capable of competing with the elite. Maybe I'm wrong and he can make it work, but it feels like better fighters will be able to defensively overload him if they just crowd him.

With where he's ranked he's going to be fighting those guys next so we'll find out soon enough.

 

[xhaydenx]

I just haven't seen enough from Gutierrez to think he's on the level of Sandhagen with his stand-up; he has some really nice clean technique and combinations but he's also kind of flat-footed in spots and just sits on guys waiting to counter instead of building attacks. He's also prone to being pressured, needs space to get his kicking game going, and is kind of stiff with no head movement defensively.

Yan's biggest weakness is that he prefers to use a high-guard as a defensive shell to roll with shots and use his eyes to make reads for counters. He can get caught ups he middle because of this with linear strikes, so if he took a bad shot he could get timed with a knee or he could always possibly get hit with that perfect shot with a straight left from Gutierrez, which he throws really clean. It's just Yan doesn't really shoot on guys without setting it up or it being reactive (he took a bad shot once against Suga when he got cut by the knee) and Gutierrez is not a one-hitter historically with his hands, he's far more dangerous with his kicks.

He does seem to be tough as nails, so he might just be able to keep working his way up or breaking to the outside and just spamming kicks, but using a power-heavy outside kicking game to outwork your opponent at bantamweight is really tricky to make work against the best of the best. Against other tall/lanky guys that want to kick-box with him he's going to be really effective just creating a war of attrition, so when you match him up with guys that don't have grappling or pressure games he looks like an absolute killer.

But if I'm being honest Gutierrez has a lot of holes defensively and his game is predicated around him having time and space to get his kicking game going. He hasn't been matched up against any legit pressure fighters or wrestlers, so even though he's put on nice performances it's nothing to show me he's capable of competing with the elite. Maybe I'm wrong and he can make it work, but it feels like better fighters will be able to defensively overload him if they just crowd him.

With where he's ranked he's going to be fighting those guys next so we'll find out soon enough.

I can't think of any of your points I want to discuss, so I'll just say awesome, in-depth post, mate.

 

[dildos]

Rematch oMalley imo.

it’s only fair since he got robbed badly.

 

[Willek]

Quitr Yan

Colby called him “Cheater Pan”

Made me giggle tbh.

 

[Reffson]

I'd say Yan vs. Chito would be cool. I think Yan wins, but the potential for great war is there.

 

[Reffson]

Rematch oMalley imo.

it’s only fair since he got robbed badly.

Ridiculous and I'm sick of the crying. Sean pieced him up in the 3rd and final round. Made him panic wrestle cuz the blood was flowing. The first round was close, and Yan won the second round.

 

[Reffson]

Merab's not that good. Doesn't belong in the second spot. Both Sean and Yan are better.

 

[dildos]

Ridiculous and I'm sick of the crying. Sean pieced him up in the 3rd and final round. Made him panic wrestle cuz the blood was flowing. The first round was close, and Yan won the second round.

Yan clearly won, everyone knows that cept for the corrupt judges. Even oMalley thought he lost, his responses in the post fight interview with rogan said it all.

 

[Chayanne]

Rematch against dana white son, suga.

 

[Reffson]

Yan clearly won, everyone knows that cept for the corrupt judges. Even oMalley thought he lost, his responses in the post fight interview with rogan said it all.

Yan did not clearly win. You don't know how to watch fights. He was aggressive, but he was not in control.

 

[Vogg]

"...it doesn't seem like the UFC is interested in him as champion based on how things transpired."

I disagree with this bit. They promoted his fight with OMalley as a #1 contenders fight but once Sean won, they decided to go with Cejudo getting the next shot. I believe if Yan had gotten the nod, he'd be fighting Aljo next.

Rankings wise it should be Mereb but personally I'd like to see him fight Yadong next.

>lost

sure