"Anyone can be defeated"

On the evening of July 26, the UFC Fight Night tournament will take place in Abu Dhabi, in the main event of which Robert Whittaker will face Rainier de Ridder. Peter Yan and American Marcus McGee will compete in the main event. Before the fight, Yan told Izvestia and Sport-Express what Merab Dvalishvili was good for, what Umar Nurmagomedov needed to do in a duel with a Georgian, whether Ilia Topuria was capable of competing in Russia with masters of sports in boxing, and also explained why he did not see the point in the third confrontation between Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol.

— You said that you don't strive to fight only with the first and second numbers of the rating. If, after McGee, the UFC decides that you need to win again for a title fight, how would you feel about that?

— We will act depending on the proposals, on the situation.

— Merab is a cardio machine that no one in the UFC has been able to break for various reasons so far. Do you think that being functional in a fight with him is the key to victory, or is there something else?

— Not only the functionality, but still the force, the pressure is constant. These are the aspects that constantly exhaust you. Non-standardness is also present. Therefore, you also need to prepare well, and you can compete well and defeat him.

— You said that you see the keys to your victory over Merab. Do you think that if Umar had had a fully healthy rematch with Merab, would the result have changed?

— Was Umar unwell?

— He injured his hand in the first round.

— It happens, it's a sport. Anything happens in the course of a fight, so you have to rebuild. If he was mentally and psychologically unprepared, then that's another story. Anyone can win, and Umar can win. What if Merab had injured something too… We have a result.

— Recently, Ilya Topuria took the first place in the P4P rating, he is already being called almost the best boxer in the history of the UFC. Does he do something technically that, for example, is difficult for you to do?

— It is clear that he certainly has the skills. Plus, I think the opponents are suitable.

— Do you think he has the level of such a good master of sports, if assessed by Russian standards?

"I don't think so.

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— Do you think he would not be able, for example, to compete at the level of a master of sports in Russia?

—No, not really.

— There is an opinion that Topography cuts down mainly not due to force, but due to accuracy and choosing the right position. As a boxer, do you agree that you can cut down without natural force, only at the expense of accuracy?

— Let's give an example, who will we analyze from those whom he knocked out?

"Holloway." He drives his opponents into a corner, to the net.

— Well, yes, he drives, presses, hits. The moment that, again, functionally breathes is physical strength. Holloway probably didn't have enough functionality to keep his distance, to continue to impose his work. Holloway can also beat Topuria with the right preparation, with the right alignment.

— If you imagine your duel with Topuria, how would you act in a fight with him?

— I don't see any point in fantasizing about it now, I have my own tasks. In general, I see that any fighter can be defeated.

— This is not the first time Holloway has taken a hard cut in the last 10 seconds of the final round — this was the case with Gatji and Porje. Would you have agreed to this if McGee, Merab or Sean had offered you right during the fight, or is it such a roulette game that it's not worth it?

"Why not?" But this moment is such that he feels his superiority somewhere. If he was zero in this story, so to speak, in middle-distance boxing, he would not have done this. In any case, he feels that he knows how to do it. If you can do it, why not?

— Bivol's third fight with Beterbiev is planned this year. Based on the previous two fights, who do you think will win the third one?

— I think the story is so clear for me personally in these two fights. I don't see much point in this third match. It's a question of why, for whom, and who is willing to organize it. So, to popularize boxing, yes. But I don't see Artur making any significant changes in this fight. But then again, he's a puncher, he always has knockout power, anything can happen. But Bivol had a great second fight and just did the work on the mistakes, won a landslide victory.

— Aljamain Sterling recently told me that he invited you to a wedding that will take place in the United States in November. How did you take his offer? Do you think you will be able to attend this holiday?

— Well, I replied that if I was in the USA, then no problem, I would be a guest, yes. And so, in order to purposefully fly to the wedding, of course, I will not fly. First of all, it's not close, and everything has been going on for a very long time.

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— Marif Piraev said that initially you agreed to participate in Alpha Reality because Merab was the second coach. Is it so? Why was it important to you?

— Initially, I was told that we had agreed with Merab and we wanted you to be the second captain. It was interesting for me, for our future fight, for the promotion of this whole story. But then, when I arrived in Thailand, everything changed. Merab had already bought tickets, he posted pictures, and they started hating him.: "Russian show, you said something, you sold out for money." He just refused at the last moment, even though he already had the tickets on hand.

— When you trained at ATT, did you work with Alexandre Pantoja there?

— We fought with Pantoja. We had some grappling sessions. In pairs, I don't remember, they didn't seem to be standing.

"Could he pull Merab?" No one can finish 38 fights in the pros.

"I doubt it." It's all the same when you're the natural light heavyweight... there are many examples of those who went down or up, but not always competently. Sometimes, on the contrary, he plays a cruel joke.

— You also worked with Rajabali Shaidullaev, he's 14-0, hasn't lost a round, is the Rizin champion, only 24 years old. What do you think of him?

— Is Radzhabali a guy from Bishkek? If it's about him, who I'm talking about, then he's a tough, interesting guy. I think we sparred with him and even fought, there was a story like that. We had interesting sparring sessions.