Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
As the lonely Leon Edwards discovered earlier this year, getting into a backstage altercation with a top-ranked fighter doesn’t mean the promotion is going to capitalize on the residual heat when it comes time to sit down and make fights.
That’s why former UFC bantamweight champion, Cody Garbrandt, is likely to be disappointed in his quest to avenge his fallen teammate. “No Love” had words for “No Mercy” after the curtain dropped on UFC 245 last weekend in Las Vegas.
“To be honest, at this stage of my career, I’m not interested in this fight at all,” Yan told MMA Fighting. “I believe I deserve to fight for the title and will talk to UFC about that first. After that we can plan and see what fights will make sense. In the future it’s still possible, I would love to show you Russian boxing style.”
Yan (14-1) showed some of that style to longtime bantamweight veteran and captain of Team Alpha Male, Urijah Faber, during their main card showdown in “Sin City” (highlights). “The Russian bruiser believes it would be more of the same for Garbrandt if and when they fight.
“It would just be a matter of time before I can catch him and after that you will see another fall of the man with no chin,” Yan added. “Now I understand that he talks big just to stay relevant. He is trying to attach his name to mine because I just won the fight and I’m on the rise. He needs to win a fight first before calling me out.”
Garbrandt (11-3) has lost his last three fights, all by way of knockout.