The waist plan: what awaits Peter Yan after another victory in the UFC

The UFC on ABC tournament in Abu Dhabi ended with an almost complete triumph of the Russian fighters. Sharabutdin Magomedov defeated Canadian Marc-Andre Barrio by unanimous decision. The victory in the co-main match of the evening went to Peter Yan. After the fight with American Marcus McGee, Peter stated that he wanted to fight for the title. UFC lightweight division champion Merab Dvalishvili will defend against Corey Sandhagen on October 4, 2025. Yang asked the UFC to arrange for him to fight the winner.

Ian deserves a chance at a championship fight.

Marcus McGee was considered an underdog in the fight with Peter Yan (bookmakers estimated his chances of winning at 25%), but he was dangerous — agile, physically strong, non-standard, hard hitting. Therefore, the first round was spent trying to adapt to the opponent's style. Jan is trying to establish boxing pressure, while without punches, he tried to hang on his opponent.

The angle suggested: "Drive, drive it, hang on, don't give up the center." The low-kicks were going well, and Peter knocked his opponent off balance several times. But McGee found the resources to push Peter back and throw punches: a straight left, and a right hit. During the break, the coaches suggested to Jan that it was time to pick up the pace, win brightly, and not let the opponent approach.

However, the beginning of the round was left to the Americans. McGee hit him hard with his left, and Peter seemed to stagger. The Russian responded with a hard two and shakes his opponent three times within a minute. Marcus got a cut. It turned out to be a classic confrontation between a higher-class opponent and a lower-class fighter: it was worth increasing the pace and there was a noticeable advantage.

In the third round, Ian decided to dry up the fight. He squeezed McGee, took his back, and tried to guide Kimura with a branded footboard. The opponent had weakened by that moment and was just trying to stand up to the gong. As a result, Peter's victory was 29-28, 29-28, 29-28. The judges gave the first round to McGee (rather controversially). At the same time, of course, the fans did not see the best version of Jan — his volatility, aggression, tough constant series and the ability to introduce himself to courage on request. Nevertheless, this is the third victory in a row, Yang does not give an inch to rivals slightly below the class and deserves to fight for the belt again.

After the fight, Peter challenged the winner of the Dvalishvili—Sandhagen pair.

— My opponent was a strong guy, he has a good non—standard technique, moves a lot, - Yang paid tribute to his opponent. — Brother, I am very happy to be here and win. A good opponent. Merab is going to fight Corey Sandhagen now. Everyone knows that I beat Corey, and now I want to fight the winner of this pair. Thanks to my head coach Kairat, my sparring partners and the Archangel Michael team.

"Full Throttle" Bullet Balls

Bullet could have made a lot of money fighting in Russia, but he chose to compete in the UFC. However, the American league also offered him a substantial fee — $85,000 per exit, despite the fact that now newcomers are usually paid 12.

Shara got off to a great start — he scored four wins in a row, very brightly, with a double backfist, knocked out Armen Petrosyan and quickly became an international star. Before signing for the UFC, he was known only in the CIS countries, had 85 thousand followers on Instagram (owned by Meta Corporation, which is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation). Now the Balls have under 2 million subscribers — and they are not hyped.

In February, Bullet had a fight with Michael Page and lost by unanimous decision. Page is a fighter who is very difficult to approach in a stand-up position, but he needs to be fought. Sharabutdin, on the other hand, did not train wrestling in the camp and eventually lost without a chance, striking a minimum of accurate blows. After the fight, Magomedov said that, among other things, he came to the fight poorly prepared due to body problems.

Canadian Marc-Andre Barrio came out against Balls in Abu Dhabi with a 5-8-1 record in the UFC. The drummer, the knockout. However, he decided to fight with Sharoy Bullet. In the first round, he pressed the Ball against the net several times, but he couldn't move it, and he didn't really do anything in the stand when the Dagestani fired at him with his feet from a distance (and hit him well with his elbow in the clinch).

In the second round, we saw the wheelhouse. Bullet Ball is the fighter who spends the first round worst of all, and then starts to enchant. This time, he turned on his elbows to the fullest, giving his opponent a dissection, and began to kick a lot and in a variety of ways. And then Barrio responded with a hard right hand towards him, seemingly breaking the Russian fighter's nose. The Canadian felt the blood, hit uppercuts, and the Ball became scary. But you need to know Sharabutdin: he feels as comfortable as possible in a fight. In the end, the opponents clinched, and Magomedov exhausted Barrio with his sharpest knees, and then he punched him in the face with his hands. The end of the round was left to the Bullet Ball.

Sharabutdin took the third round without question. The tired Barrio went forward, but with absolutely no result. Shara cut him heartily with his elbows, and about 20 seconds before the siren, he dropped the Canadian with his knee from the clinch and began to finish him off. There wasn't enough time for an early release. A convincing victory for Bullet Balls!

"Step by step, I'm going to become the UFC champion," Magomedov said after the fight. — I trained very hard before this fight, I felt very good in the duel. The opponent was tough, there are no easy ones in the UFC. What's next? It doesn't matter. I'm ready to fight next month, I'm very motivated, this fight was my rehabilitation, I won't repeat my mistakes. Many thanks to those who cared for me, who always supported me with their hearts. I really love my fans all over the world, Russia, the CIS countries, my beloved Dagestan, the Caucasus, all the good Russian men, I'm with you, full throttle.

In two other fights involving Russians, Muslim Salikhov defeated Brazilian Carlos Leal by knockout in the first round, but Said Nurmagomedov lost to American Bryce Mitchell by unanimous decision.