Petr Yan Explains Why Revenge Makes the UFC Title Win that Much Sweeter
UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan has explained why the revenge aspect of his win over Merab Dvalishvili made it so much sweeter.
Last weekend at UFC 323, Petr Yan defeated Merab Dvalishvili to become a two-time UFC bantamweight champion. It was something that a lot of fans didn’t see coming, but he was still able to push through and put on arguably the best performance of his career.
Petr Yan now sits back at the top of the mountain at 135 pounds, and while a trilogy fight against Dvalishvili is likely at some point, nobody can deny that he deserves to be champion again. Of course, it came in the wake of a pretty one-sided loss to Merab in their first meeting, meaning that their series is now tied at 1-1.
In the post-fight press conference, Petr Yan explained why the feeling of getting revenge made it so much better.
Petr Yan discusses his UFC 323 title victory
“Of course, it feels very good. Revenge fights always bring out a more professional approach from me, and with the belt on the line the motivation was huge. Right now it’s time to enjoy this, to live in this moment. As for a trilogy, I think Merab needs to go back to the jacuzzi with the boys, relax a bit, and then we’ll see what happens.”
“I know one thing: in life you will never be good for everyone and you will never be liked by everyone. I don’t want to be some different version of myself just to please people. I am who I am. Love me, don’t love me, that’s your personal business. I just love what I do. If there are people who enjoy what I do, then we are one team, we’re together in this.”
Whether it be Dvalishvili, Umar Nurmagomedov or perhaps even Sean O’Malley, something tells us that Yan will be ready for whatever challenge comes his way. Even if he loses the belt in his next outing, he has been able to do something pretty incredible by winning it back in the first place.
