"He is ready" - When Khamzat Chimaev checked Petr Yan's grappling during a light-hearted interaction [VIDEO]
Petr Yan prefers a stand-and-strike-styled approach for his fights, but his grappling skills were once praised by even Khamzat Chimaev. A three-year-old video on Reddit showcased an instance when Chimaev checked Yan's expertise in grappling.
Yan continued his winning run in the UFC with a victory over Deiveson Figueiredo at the recently concluded main event of UFC Macau. The fight presented an all-out war between the two bantamweights. Yan's rival offered commendable resistance throughout the five-round encounter. But the Russian did enough to win the fight via a unanimous decision.
Yan had no intention of taking the fight to the ground. He defended some of Figueiredo's takedown attempts pretty efficiently. 'No Mercy' was also quick to get back to his feet after being taken down a few times.
Chimaev crossed paths with Yan in the hotel lobby where they were staying for their UFC 267 fights. Both also got into a brisk grappling matchup amidst their interaction, which had Chimaev praising Yan's grappling skills. He said:
"Are you getting stronger? [Then casually going for a leg-hold, which Yan defends.] He is ready."
Petr Yan demands a title shot after his victory at UFC Macau
Petr Yan's victory over Deiveson Figueiredo marked his second consecutive win after losing against the current bantamweight champion, Merab Dvalishvili. During his octagon interview, the 31-year-old expressed his desire to get another crack at the UFC bantamweight gold.
Dvalishvili had elected Figueiredo as the preferred rival for his first title defense fight. As a result, Yan justified that his victory over Figueiredo should earn him the next title shot.
"Before my fight, Merab [Dvalishvili] told Deiveson Figueiredo [is the] No. 1 contender who deserves [the next] title fight. I want to say, Merab, what do you say now, when I'm beat [that I've beaten] the No.1 contender in the division. I wanna do a rematch with Merab. Let's go."
Check out Petr Yan's comments below (1:51):