Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen will wrangle over a piece of the Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight pie when they determine the fate of the interim 135-pound title in the UFC 267 co-headliner on Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The winner figures to face injured champion Aljamain Sterling in a unification bout sometime in the first half of 2022.
Yan enters the Octagon having won 10 of his last 11 fights. He has not competed since he surrendered the bantamweight crown to Sterling in a disqualification loss—an illegal knee strike in the fourth round brought their confrontation to a premature close—at UFC 259 on March 6. Sandhagen, meanwhile, has recorded nine victories across his past 11 outings. The Elevation Fight Team rep last appeared at UFC on ESPN 27, where he wound up on the wrong side of a contentious split decision against T.J. Dillashaw on July 24.
As Yan and Sandhagen make final preparations for their high-stakes affair, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point.
28: Years of age for Yan, who was born on Feb. 11, 1993 in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russia.
7: Yan victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 47% of his career total (15). His list of UFC victims: Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, Douglas Silva de Andrade and Teruto Ishihara. Yan owns one other victory by submission—he put away Haron Orzumiev with a guillotine choke at an Absolute Championship Berkut show in 2015—and seven more by decision.
9: Knockdowns landed by Yan as a UFC bantamweight, tying him with Dillashaw and Cody Garbrandt for first on the promotion’s all-time list at 135 pounds.
5: Countries in which Yan has competed as a mixed martial artist. He has gone 9-1 in his native Russia, 3-1 in the United States, 1-0 in Singapore, 1-0 in the Czech Republic and 1-0 in the United Arab Emirates.
.884: Cumulative winning percentage between the two men—Sterling and Magomed Magomedov—who have defeated Yan. They sport a combined record of 38-5.
29: Years of age for Sandhagen, who was born in Aurora, Colorado, on April 20, 1992.
3: Sandhagen wins by submission, accounting for 21% of his career total (14). His methods of choice: one rear-naked choke, one triangle choke and one armbar. Sandhagen holds six other wins by knockout or technical knockout and five more by decision.
128: Significant strikes landed by Sandhagen in his split decision loss to Dillashaw. It eclipsed his previous personal best of 120, set when he eked out a split verdict over former Jungle Fight champion John Lineker across three rounds at UFC Fight Night 150 on April 27, 2019.
6: First-round finishes on the Sandhangen resume, but only one of them was of the sub-minute variety. He flattened onetime Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder Frankie Edgar with an exquisitely timed flying knee a mere 28 seconds into their UFC Fight Night 184 co-feature on Feb. 6.
55: Combined victories between the three men—Dillashaw, Sterling and Jamall Emmers—who have beaten Sandhagen. They boast a cumulative record of 55-13 (.809).