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“I am the future”. This quote from Petr Yan’s Twitter account was directed at his next opponent, Urijah Faber, but could just as easily been made as a general statement about how the MMA game is evolving and Yan’s own place in the vanguard. Yan’s quick rise up the ranks in one of the sport’s most competitive divisions, the UFC’s bantamweight class, has largely been predicated on the strength of his technical boxing game and defensive wrestling. It’s a style we’ve seen come to the fore in MMA over the last few years as loading up on single power shots and falling into the clinch has given way to tighter, more angular footwork, combination punching in extended pocket exchanges, and layered defense absorbed primarily from Western boxing. Jose Aldo was one of the first fighters to show the effectiveness of this style, but it can also be seen in guys like Max Holloway, Frankie Edgar, Cody Garbrandt, Calvin Kattar, and many others. Unlike most of the fighters who have adopted this style however, Yan brought a deep amateur boxing background to the table, a career which according to UFC commentary (though it’s proven hard to verify) earned him a master of sport title from his home country of Russia. That Yan is a classically trained boxer shows in many of the little things he does which commonly get ignored in MMA where fighters tend to pick up skills in a more sporadic and often incomplete manner.

Boxing

So what sets Yan’s boxing apart from other contenders’? The main differences lie in Yan’s footwork, especially when pressuring, his combination punching, and his general defensive responsibility during and after his attacks. As we’ll see he’s not perfect in any of these areas, but his skills are still far ahead of most of his opponents.

Petr Yan is one of the most defined pressure fighters in MMA, and it all starts with his footwork. It’s not only that he’s moving forward, but that he’s constantly cutting off angles of escape from his opposition. Yan hardly ever chases, rather he takes away your space until your back is against the cage; once you’re square, he throws hard in combination.