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“How’s Your Recovery Going Old Cheater?” Petr Yan Targets His Next Fight as He Taunts a Former Champion

Published 11/10/2021, 8:48 AM EST

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Current interim UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan recently took to Twitter to call out TJ Dillashaw.

Yan was last seen in the octagon at UFC 267. He took on Cory Sandhagen for the interim bantamweight title and won the fight via split decision. The interim title fight took place because the champion, Aljamain Sterling, is on the sidelines because of a neck issue.

After his win against Sandhagen, Yan in a post-fight interview said that he would like to fight Dillashaw. ‘No Mercy’ also went on Twitter to reach out to Dillashaw and even called him a cheater while doing so. He said, How’s your recovery going old cheater?”

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Yan, with his tweet, took a dig at Dillashaw‘s use of recombinant human erythropoietin before the Henry Cejudo fight. He was suspended for two years for the use of the banned substance and made his comeback against Cory Sandhagen. During the fight against Sandhagen, he suffered a knee injury and will be out of action until the early part of 2022.

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What’s next for Petr Yan?

Petr Yan is the current interim UFC bantamweight champion. He was the undisputed bantamweight champion till UFC 259, where he met Aljamain Sterling. The Russian fighter was dominating the fight and looked on track to retain his title. However, an illegal knee in the fourth round led to a DQ victory for ‘Funk Master.’ That was the first time title changed hands via disqualification.

Since Sterling is the undisputed champion, it would make sense for him and Yan to fight for the unification of the belt. Sterling wants to fight Yan in January or February. In a recent interview, he said, “I texted the matchmaker right after that fight happened. I said, January, February and I said let me know.”

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Despite this fight making the most sense, Yan doesn’t seem too interested in fighting Sterling. ‘No Mercy‘ has been calling out TJ Dillashaw, and even at the post-fight interview after UFC 267, he took his name. When asked about what’s next for him, he said, “It doesn’t matter, either it’s clown Sterling, who’s running away or it’s Dillashaw. But I really want to beat Dillashaw.”

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It will be interesting to see how the UFC matchmakers proceed with this. Who do you want to see Petr Yan fight? Let us know in the comments!

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Written by:

Arunaditya Aima

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Arunaditya is a UFC writer at EssentiallySports. Having completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Multimedia Journalism from IIJNM, Arunaditya aspires to be an important voice in the world of MMA and interview the likes of Jon Jones, Conor McGregor, Amanda Nunes, and other such superstars of the sport. He has followed the sport for over a decade and is an ardent fan of Georges St-Pierre, who he believes is the greatest of all time.
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