Petr Yan should be Fighter of the Year, says Henry Cejudo

UFC legend Henry Cejudo has explained why he believes Petr Yan deserves to be given the title of Fighter of the Year for 2025.

This year, Petr Yan was able to climb back to the top of the mountain. Following on from a nice win over Marcus McGhee in the summer, he proceeded to defeat Merab Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC 323 to once again claim the UFC bantamweight championship. It was a thoroughly impressive display from ‘No Mercy’ who completed an incredible journey back to the title.

Dvalishvili, of course, was well on his way to being called Fighter of the Year after successfully defending the bantamweight gold three times. Unfortunately for him, his loss to Petr Yan meant that many people felt he was no longer the rightful recipient of that crown.

In a recent episode of his podcast alongside Kamaru Usman, Henry Cejudo made the case for Petr Yan to be Fighter of the Year instead.

Henry Cejudo’s case for Petr Yan as Fighter of the Year

“Call me crazy, and I know a lot of people have been giving it to Merab because he fought four times, but the reality is, you’re only as good as your last fight,” Cejudo said on his “Pound 4 Pound” podcast with Kamaru Usman. “I’ve got to give it to Petr Yan. Why? Because the story is there. What he was able to do, who he fought to get to the title, and then avenge the loss when he got 50-45’d against Merab the first time.

“To come back and actually beat him, to me, was impressive. … It is quality vs. quantity, and just the simple fact that he was able to beat Merab after being 50-45’d, to me, that’s grit. That’s Fighter of the Year. That’s someone who didn’t give up on his dream and still came back five years after he became champion.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

Regardless of whether or not you agree, it’ll certainly be interesting to see what Yan goes on to achieve in 2026 after managing to shut out Dvalishvili like that.