5 UFC fighters who could be successful in boxing

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. (right) Conor McGregor (left).

Since the iconic boxing match between former UFC champ-champ Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather, the boundaries between MMA and boxing have become blurry.

The event collected 4.3 million in pay-per-view buys and remains one of the most significant events in combat sports history. Although McGregor failed to defeat Mayweather, he arguably opened the doors for MMA fighters to try their hand at boxing.

With former fighters Tyron Woodley and Ben Askren following suit, it became evident that boxing had become a new challenge for mixed martial artists.

Thanks to boxer Tyson Fury calling out UFC star Francis Ngannou, the buzz has only increased. It has invited debates on UFC fighters who are fit to wear boxing gloves.

With that in mind, here are five fighters who could be successful in boxing:

#5. Petr Yan - former UFC bantamweight champion

Former bantamweight champion Petr Yan is one of the most well-rounded fighters in the promotion. According to Dustin Poirier, he is the best boxer as well.

Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, 'The Diamond' said:

"His positioning is always crisp, his footwork, he’s never out of position. He doesn’t load up, but he throws clean power shots. Good accuracy, works the body well. Goes up, goes down. It’s just a lot of things that he does really, really well.”

Who's the best boxer in the UFC?

@DustinPoirier tells @arielhelwani it's @PetrYanUFC, not Max Holloway 🥊 #TheMMAHour

▶️ youtu.be/QzPig8VvdOU https://t.co/GVuMDAZ8RD

The Russian has had a good run in the 135lbs division. Barring two losses against bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, he hasn't been beaten in four years. His performances against Jose Aldo and Cory Sandhagen are an example of how good a striker he is.

'No Mercy' outstruck an able striker like Aldo 194-83 in significant strikes on target before knocking him out in the fifth round. In the slugfest with Sandhagen, 318 significant strikes were on target, with Yan landing 149 of those.

Despite being dominated by Sterling on the ground during their recent rematch, Yan still managed to strike with better accuracy. According to the official stats, Yan landed 61% of his significant strikes on target, compared to Sterling's 56%. This was essentially the result of Yan's comeback in the last two rounds, where he outstruck the Jamaican 38-20 in significant strikes on target.