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Petr Yan Outlasts Deiveson Figueiredo in Bantamweight War at UFC Macau

The two former champions met in an action-packed headliner at UFC Macau.

Drew Beaupre

(Zuffa LLC)

The main event of UFC Macau was a pivotal bantamweight matchup between former champions Petr Yan and Deiveson Figueiredo.

Yan Outlasts Figueiredo At UFC Macau

A two-time UFC flyweight champion, Figueiredo moved up to the bantamweight division last year following his fourth title fight with Brandon Moreno and scored a unanimous decision win over perrenial top contender Rob Font.

UFC Macau Live Results & Highlights: Petr Yan vs. Deiveson Figueiredo

"Deus Da Guerra" followed his bantamweight debut with a submission-win over former divisional kingpin Cody Garbrandt before he also defeated former title challenger Marlon "Chito" Vera in August, which set the stage for a huge matchup with Yan in the main event of UFC Macau.

Yan rebounded from losing his bantamweight title to Aljamain Sterling via disqualification with a win over Cory Sandhagen, but a split decision loss in his rematch with Sterling was followed by setbacks against future champions Sean O'Malley and Merab Dvalishvili to put the 31-year-old on the first losing skid of his career.

A unanimous decision against Song Yadong in March put Yan right back into the title mix at bantamweight, and a matchup with the surging Figueiredo presented the perfect opportunity for the 31-year-old to try and earn back-to-back wins for the first time since beginning his UFC career with seven-straight victories.

Figueiredo surprised fans and his opponent when he secured a trip takedown within the opening minute of the fight, and after Yan forced the Brazilian off of his back he was able to land some ground and pound from top position during the second half of the round.

The second frame saw both men find big moments of success of the feet before Figueiredo briefly landed another takedown early in the third, but once again Yan was able to reverse the position before the two men scrambled up and resumed their striking battle.

"No Mercy" continued to gain momentum as the fight went into the championship rounds, but late in the fourth frame Figueiredo briefly rallied to drop the former bantamweight king with a big right hand.

The knockdown gave Figueiredo renewed confidence to start the final round, but even after the Brazilian had a considerable amount of success in the last five minutes it was Yan that got his hand raised via unanimous decision.

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The victory could put Yan in line for a shot at the flyweight title, but first the division will have to wait and see if Alexandre Pantoja is able to defend his belt for a third time when he welcomes Kai Asakura to the promotion in the main event of UFC 310.

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Drew Beaupre
DREW BEAUPRE

Drew is an MMA writer that regularly watches regional events in addition to major promotions such as the UFC, PFL, Bellator, and ONE Championship. He joined MMA Knockout when it was founded in 2023.

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