UFC Bantamweight Champion Petr Yan (20-5) has officially called on the UFC to ignore political pressure and grant him a spot on the UFC White House card on June 14.
Yan’s plea follows after he reclaimed his belt by outclassing Merab Dvalishvili in their rematch at UFC 323 last December, avenging his 2023 loss and ending Dvalishvili’s 14-fight winning streak. Following the win, the champion underwent back surgery. Yan says he is “almost fully recovered” and has begun light technical training.
Yan has targeted the June date for his return. However, according to Merab, the promotion told him that the Yan rematch for the UFC White House event is “impossible” because of his Russian citizenship, something which the UFC has not officially said. Yan has suggested that if the UFC allows him to compete at the White House, he would use the momentum to help the promotion finally secure an event at Red Square in Moscow.
“I haven’t heard a definite regarding UFC fighters, but the UFC is a huge international organization with fighters from all over the world. I think that, if anything, this would be an incredible gesture of goodwill, to show that sports, after all, are outside of politics. The goal is, first, we take the White House. Then we’ll do a huge event in the Red Square,” Yan said