A clash of former champions Petr Yan and Deiveson Figueiredo will headline UFC Fight Night 248 event in Macau, China on November 23rd.
The 31-year-old Yan’s form has been surprisingly mixed since losing the bantamweight title by disqualification against Aljamain Sterling due to an illegal knee strike back in 2021.
Yan did beat Cory Sandhagen after that, but then came a three-fight losing slump, starting with a split-decision loss to Sterling in their title rematch in 2022.
Yan also then came out on the wrong end of a split-decision verdict against Sean O’Malley and followed that up with a unanimous decision loss to future champion Merab Dvalishvili last year.
The Russian has since managed to get back to winning ways however, earning a unanimous decision victory over Song Yadong at UFC 299 in March, leaving him ranked No.3 in the division.
As for the 36-year-old Figueiredo, after losing the final bout in his four-fight flyweight title series against Brandon Moreno, he decided to move up to 135lbs and has performed well there so far, stringing together a three-fight winning streak in less than a year.
That run began with a unanimous decision win over Rob Font in December of last year, followed by a rear-naked choke victory against Cody Garbrandt at UFC 300, before going on to beat Marlon Vera on the scorecards, leaving him ranked No.5 in the division.
Yan vs. Figueiredo headlines a UFC: Macau card that will also feature the finals of the ‘Road TO UFC’ Season 3 among other bouts still to be confirmed.
