Esther Lin
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) bantamweight contender, Petr Yan, has won all six of his fights inside the Octagon and secured the No. 3 spot in the official rankings by putting down division legend, Urijah Faber, at UFC 245 last December.
But he may want to pump the brakes on that 135-pound title shot.
That’s because Faber believes Yan — along with the rest of the division — is sleeping on former bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz, who is expected to be all patched up and ready to make his return to mixed martial arts (MMA) at some point later this year.
“You could make a case for Yan,” Faber told MMA Fighting. “Beating me at 40 is not necessarily the thing that’s going to get him the nod. I don’t think Yan is necessarily 100 percent the guy to get it but I wouldn’t blink and say that he couldn’t get it either. I think Dominick Cruz would be a nightmare matchup for Yan. Maybe have Dominick come out and fight Yan and the winner of that [gets the title shot]. Everyone’s sleeping on Dominick Cruz.”
Cruz (22-2) has not been seen since his unanimous decision loss to Cody Garbrandt at the UFC 207 pay-per-view (PPV) event over three years back. “The Dominator” recently underwent yet another surgery to prolong his cage fighting life, which appears to be held together by popsicle sticks and duct tape.
In addition, current bantamweight champion, Henry Cejudo, is flirting with a Jose Aldo showdown for his return to action, which like Cruz, was delayed by surgery. The promotion, however, has yet to make anything official at this time.