After Petr Yan defeated Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323, the Russian received a hero’s welcome in his home country. ‘No Mercy’ found himself surrounded by cheering fans as he arrived with the newly won UFC gold belt. But while the bantamweight king soaked in the love from his admirers, he also received a stunning Mercedes G-Wagon, gifted by a Russian billionaire.

Petr Yan received the G-Wagon for his victory over Merab Dvalishvili, a gift from the head of the Russian Copper Company, Igor Altushkin. Petr Yan represents the Yekaterinburg club ‘Archangel Mikhail’. 🚙 Red Corner MMA posted on X, sharing the moment with video credit to the Russian channel Ushatayka.

Now, that’s what we call a special homecoming. First, Yan pocketed a hefty performance bonus from Dana White. Soon after, he added a flashy Mercedes G-Wagon to his garage, with the top model valued at $195,500. So, it’s safe to say, the Russian champion is set to live rather flamboyantly. But who exactly is the man behind this lavish gift?

For the unversed, Igor Altushkin is a Russian billionaire with a $2.9 billion net worth, as per Forbes, and he runs a massive copper empire. Also, this isn’t the first time he has rewarded ‘No Mercy’ with a luxury car. After Petr Yan defeated Jose Aldo at UFC 251 to win the title for the first time, the same billionaire gifted him a Mercedes GLS. So, after the Russian reclaimed his spot as the 135-pound division’s king, Altushkin decided Yan deserved yet another remarkable reward for becoming a champion once again.

Now, as the 32-year-old left fans in awe with his career-best performance at the last ESPN PPV ever, praise continues to pour in from all sides. The latest shoutout came from none other than UFC color commentator Joe Rogan. 

Joe Rogan had to rewatch the fight 

Joe Rogan was present at the UFC 323 desk and witnessed Petr Yan’s outstanding performance against Merab Dvalishvili firsthand. The color commentator also showed his raw and authentic reactions when ‘No Mercy’ ripped brutal body shots into ‘The Machine’. Once the fight wrapped up with the Russian getting his hands raised, Rogan did not hesitate to call it Yan’s career-best showing, and now, he has doubled down on those compliments.

“F—k, what a masterclass,” Rogan said on a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience. “When you’re going to fight a guy like Merab, that is the master class. He put on a clinic. His training camp must have been hell, had to be hell, and it looked like it.”

As Joe pointed out Yan’s preparation heading into the rematch, he also revisited their first encounter. Rogan explained how Yan fought Merab with a broken hand at a 2022 Fight Night event and paid the price for it. This time, inside T-Mobile Arena, ‘No Mercy’ proved that his compromised right hand was the real issue back then, as he systematically broke down and dominated the Georgian.

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“The first time they fought, apparently, he had a f— up right hand, and he couldn’t grapple with it, and he couldn’t throw punches with it. So I rewatched the fight after he said that. I was like, ‘Oh, he’s barely using it.’ Barely using his right hand. Totally makes sense and also psychologically, if you’ve only got one hand, now you have to think you can’t really throw combinations.”

And that assessment checks out. Petr Yan’s combinations, especially the jab-body shot-hook combo, worked like a charm at UFC 323. Things only got better once he consistently shut down Merab’s takedown attempts. That said, as the Russian enjoys his homecoming celebrations, what do you think comes next for him? Comment down below.