There have been numerous fighters who have had to try to revive their MMA careers after such a downfall.
We’ve seen some warriors compete as one of the best before retiring due to a disappointing run.
However, a current UFC fighter is on a redemption arc after just one costly mistake in a fight, which impacted his career.
Here is how this Russian mixed martial artist’s career took a terrible turn.
A Promising Star in the Making
Petr Yan entered the UFC with a record of 8-1, looking as if he was full of potential in the Bantamweight division.
The Dudinka-born fighter’s only loss came against Magomed Magomedov, which he later avenged in Absolute Championship Berkut (ACB).
Yan’s final ACB appearance, before joining the UFC, ended with an emphatic third-round knockout triumph over Matheus Mattos.
‘No Mercy’ made his debut at UFC Singapore, scoring a first-round TKO win over Teruto Ishihara.
The Russian then fought in his own territory, facing off against Jin Soo Son at UFC Moscow, who had missed weight for the Bantamweight bout.
In a Catchweight of 137 pounds, Yan won convincingly by unanimous decision.
In his third fight of 2018, the future title challenger took on Douglas Silva de Andrade at UFC 232.
The fight lasted two rounds, and with the Brazilian unable to go to the third round, Yan won by TKO.
Road to UFC title
After a comfortable unanimous decision win against John Dodson at UFC Prague, fans believed that Yan would be a title contender.
In just eight months, he had already reached #8 in the Bantamweight rankings.
Yekaterinburg’s mixed martial artist would climb higher up the rankings when he defeated Jimmie Rivera at UFC 238.
This would put him just one more fight away from apparent title contention.
The 135-pound fighter then went face-to-face with multiple UFC title challengers, including Urijah Faber.
Once again, Yan blazed past another opponent, winning by third-round knockout at UFC 245.
Eventually, the opportunity arose for the vacant UFC Bantamweight title at UFC 251 against former Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo.
Yan dominated Aldo, winning by fifth-round TKO to become the King of the 135-pound division and look truly unstoppable.
The Mistake That Lost Him the Championship
No Mercy’s first title defence was set to take place at the UFC APEX facility in Nevada.
Aljamain Sterling challenged Yan at UFC 259, who was on an interesting winning streak of five.
The New York fighter had just submitted Cory Sandhagen in less than 90 seconds at UFC 250.
There was plenty of trash talk online, since it was the middle of the pandemic, with Yan producing some toxic words on Twitter.
During their fierce battle in the Octagon, Yan looked like the more impressive fighter.
The Russian was landing powerful strikes as well as clever takedowns, taking control of the championship bout.
But that all came to a stop in the fourth round when Yan landed an illegal knee to the head of Sterling.
‘Funk Master’ was down and could not continue; therefore, Yan was disqualified, and just like that, Sterling was the new Bantamweight Champion.
The Gradual Downfall
At UFC 267, Yan was seeking redemption to claim his undisputed belt back, but he had to face off with Sandhagen.
In a rather entertaining battle, Yan won by unanimous decision, securing the interim title and earning a rematch with Sterling.
The second bout between the two rivals took place at UFC 273 in Jacksonville, Florida.
In a very close battle, Sterling edged out a split decision win, retaining the title, which left Yan in disbelief.
Once again, the Dudinka-born fighter was searching for a redeeming win, and the chance came at UFC 280 against prospect Sean O’Malley.
Just like a repeat of his last fight, the former champion lost by split decision in what was an exciting battle in Abu Dhabi.
However, things would only get worse for Yan as his two-fight losing streak would soon be extended to three.
Merab Dvalishvili reigned supreme when both fighters met at The Theatre in Paradise, Nevada, winning via a dominant decision.
The Russians’ Revival
Yan was now on a mission to redeem his career after only winning one fight in his last five.
At UFC 299, the #4 contender faced Song Yadong and succeeded in his quest for redemption, winning by unanimous decision.
The Russian then challenged Deiveson Figueiredo in the headliner of UFC Macau.
Yan defeated the former two-time Flyweight Champion by unanimous decision in another thrilling contest.
After expressing his interest in having one more fight before a title opportunity, that wish would be granted.
No Mercy faced promising prospect, Marcus McGhee, at UFC Abu Dhabi to end his three-fight losing streak with three consecutive victories.
Thankfully for Yan, he once again won by unanimous decision, placing himself back in the title conversation.
It’s unclear if Yan will have one more bout before his opportunity for the belt. Still, current champion Dvalishvili believes that he is the next deserving challenger after Sandhagen when they meet at UFC 320.