Preview: UFC Macau ‘Yan vs. Figueiredo’

The Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday will land in Macau, China, for the first time in over a decade, and it will do so with an intriguing main card led by a strong headliner. Petr Yan and Deiveson Figueiredo have been circling each other since the Brazilian moved up to 135 pounds in 2023, and the two finally meet in a main event that combines high stakes and action. Beyond that, two compelling matchups could wind up being important in their respective divisions. The co-main event sees Tabatha Ricci attempt to win her way into the women’s strawweight contender picture against recent title challenger Xiaonan Yan, and a well-matched light heavyweight clash sees Volkan Oezdemir or Carlos Ulberg potentially cash their own ticket to contention. There’s also a clear emphasis on Chinese talent that should prove entertaining, with Cong Wang emerging as someone who could quickly rise through the women’s flyweight ranks toward a fight with former kickboxing rival Valentina Shevchenko.

Now to the UFC Macau “Yan vs. Figueiredo” preview:

Bantamweights

#3 BW | Petr Yan (17-5, 9-4 UFC) vs. #5 BW | Deiveson Figueiredo (24-3-1, 13-3-1 UFC)

ODDS: Yan (-298), Figueiredo (+240)

Yan remains relevant and entertaining, but it’s still hard to forget exactly how high expectations were for “No Mercy”—a man who was expected to be years into lording over the bantamweight division by now. Yan’s rise through the ranks from UFC debut to bantamweight champion is rarely talked about as one of the most impressive in the sport, but it certainly qualifies, as it took the Russian about two years and two weeks to go from newcomer to champ. During that entire time, Yan simply felt inevitable, with a clear game plan in his fights that resulted in both dominance and violence. Yan would consistently learn through pressure, eating some offense to feel things out early, then turn into an absolute buzzsaw as soon as he found his reads, achieving a rare mix of technical aggression that made him one of the top fighters in the sport. Aljamain Sterling figured to be a first stiff test for Yan’s bantamweight title reign in 2021. Sterling did in fact find success early on, taking advantage of Yan’s slow starts to swamp the then-champion with pressure and wrestling in hopes of slowing down the seemingly inevitable. However, the end effect of Sterling’s gambit was that he found himself absolutely exhausted by the third round, at which point Yan took the fight over and seemed on his way to a clear decision, if not an outright finish. Then came a pivot point for both men’s careers. While Yan had Sterling on the mat, he calculatedly unleashed an illegal knee that left the Serra-Longo Fight Team star unable to continue, becoming the first fighter to lose his title via disqualification. It seemed likely that things would correct themselves in a rematch, particularly after Yan authored an impressive victory over Cory Sandhagen in the interim, but Sterling won fair and square the second time around. Sterling was much more effective in balancing his aggression and his gas tank, and for his part, Yan seemed overzealous in trying to settle the score and prove himself the better man. Still, Yan was such an impressive force that he figured to be back in the title picture in short order, which made it a shock when he dropped his next two fights. A decision loss to Sean O’Malley was controversial and a loss to Merab Dvalishvili was much clearer. Yet they raised the same issue. While there are still few things more terrifying in mixed martial arts than a fully locked in Yan, it has proven surprisingly easy—at least compared to the expectations he had earlier in his career—for dedicated power punchers or stronger wrestlers to stall his momentum and keep him from getting to that point. Yan managed to get back in the win column against Yadong Song in March in what was a strong showing for both men. In Yan’s case, it was a nice proof of concept that he can in fact outlast a harder shot-for-shot puncher. In doing so, he looked close to his championship form by the end of the fight. As is expected from a division as deep at bantamweight, one tough fight just gives way to another, as Yan now takes on a former flyweight champion in Figueiredo.

If Henry Cejudo saved the UFC’s flyweight division with his win over bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw as the promotion was attempting to shut the weight class down, it was Figueiredo who truly revived it, as his four-fight rivalry with Brandon Moreno helped the 125ers reach some new promotional highs. “Deus da Guerra” made his UFC debut in 2017 and was immediately a revelation, even in a division full of exciting fighters. Figueiredo has a rare level of horsepower for someone his size, typically sacrificing pace for the fact that he can tear through an opponent with one punch. The 2020 campaign turned out to be Figueiredo’s breakout year, as he scored two brutally dominant wins over Joseph Benavidez to win the then-vacant flyweight title—he missed weight the first time around—and then beat Alex Perez in under two minutes to set up his first fight with Moreno. It resulted in a draw that ranked as one of the best fights of the year. The two would then trade the title for the next three fights, pouring adjustments on top of adjustments on top of adjustments until Moreno ended the rivalry with a definitive win, in turn causing Figueiredo to ply his trade up at 135 pounds. It has been a smooth transition, with Figueiredo showing more of his classic approach built around low volume and high power, only now with a surprisingly effective wrestling game mixed in. That latter approach was present a bit in his bantamweight debut against Rob Font but clearly helped him salt away wins against Cody Garbrandt and Marlon Vera. Even with those strong performances, this does feel like a clear step up for Figueiredo in terms of proving he’s an elite bantamweight. Font’s lack of horsepower, Garbrandt’s lack of defense and Vera’s lack of volume all provided openings for Figueiredo to force his game through. Yan doesn’t appear to check any of those boxes. With that said, this figures to start off rough for the former bantamweight champion, who will take his time trying to maneuver around Figueiredo’s power at best or will get clipped trying to feel things out at worst. That might be enough to make Figueiredo the pick in a three-round fight, but given five rounds with which to work, Yan seems like the safer bet. Figueiredo’s counter-focused style should give Yan a lot of time and space to work. The Russian is the best wrestler Figueiredo has faced to date at 135 pounds, and there is the worry for the Brazilian that Yan could wind up wearing him out and leveraging a clear cardio advantage once he finds the comfort to pick up the pace. Both men should get a lot of excellent work in, but the pick is Yan via decision.

Jump To »
Yan vs. Figueiredo
Yan vs. Ricci
Salikhov vs. Song
Wang vs. Fernandes
Ulberg vs. Oezdemir
Zhang vs. Diaz
The Prelims