Ranked BW Asks Dana White for a Petr Yan UFC Fight: “Heard You Decided Not to Retire”

2022 didn’t serve Petr Yan very well. On the professional side, he suffered two back-to-back losses. And apart from that, he landed in off-court trouble for his stance on the Ukraine-Russia conflict. And allegedly, the 29-year-old even decided to part ways with the UFC over the controversial decisions in his last fights. But it appears that Yan has had a change of heart and is reconsidering his decision.

Or at least, that’s what the bantamweight fighter Ricky Simon has heard, who has proposed a challenge to Petr Yan based on that development. The rank 10 fighter is on a five-match winning streak and seeking a greater test. And in an Instagram post, he also informed Dana White that he had his sights set on the former bantamweight champion in the name of the fans.

Ricky Simon wants Petr Yan next

Petr Yan lost his interim title and his number-one ranking, in 2022. Additionally, the outcomes of both battles were surrounded by considerable debate. Hence, there was speculation that the Russian may retire now. However, that didn’t come from Yan himself. But now, there appears to be a development in this purported rumor, too. That the 29-year-old is reconsidering retirement now. And the bantamweight stalwart, Ricky Simon, was quick to seize this as an opportunity and issued a challenge to ‘No Mercy’.

He wrote in his post, “@petr_yan I heard you decided not to retire. Let’s give the fans what they want! @danawhite @ufc @seanshelby @jasonkhouse @paniniamerica @iridiumsportsagency Like + Tag a friend to win a Petr Yan Panini card Merry Christmas” 

Read more: After Getting Booed for Petr Yan Win, Sean O’Malley Gives Verdict on Paddy Pimblett UFC 282 Controversy

It was anticipated that the 30-year-old would spark some responses from the UFC faithful given his claim that this fight is what the fans want. And it surely did. Check out a few of the reactions below:

One fan thought that Petr Yan may pick Merab Dvalishvili instead:

“He’s gonna end up fighting merab”

Another fan asked him to face Umar Nurmagomedov first:

“why are ducking umar nurmagomedov fight umar and than ptrn yan”

And there were some fans who actually liked the sound of Yan vs. Simon:

“Banger matchup!”

“LFG, easy money!”

“Ricky Simon 2023 UFC bantamweight Champion incoming”

A fan believed that Petr Yan‘s losing streak will end with this fight:

“Peter Yan win”

However, another fan questioned Ricky Simon‘s desire to fight Yan during his downtime::

“Why u wanna fight Yan when he’s coming off 2 losses”

The losses didn’t sit well with Petr Yan. He launched a scathing tweet at the judges as soon as the results of his fight with Sean O’Malley were announced. This made Yan lose faith in the promotion, too. And following that, there was news about him considering retirement.

Yan was disappointed by the UFC

One person who has access to all UFC insider information is Daniel Cormier. Following UFC 280, ‘DC’ spoke about the entire event on his YouTube channel, including Petr Yan‘s present situation. According to Cormier, Yan was not happy with the results of his recent fights and was considering parting ways with the UFC.

Cormier said, “Petr Yan is so disappointed in this decision. Petr Yan is so disappointed in the decision against Aljo (Aljamain Sterling), that I’m hearing word that this guy may want to look at something different down the line in terms of his career because he just does not feel, like, maybe the organization doesn’t have his back. It’s crazy.”

But now, that rumored retirement seems to be revoked from Petr Yan‘s end. It would be interesting to see how he bounces back from here on.

Watch this story: Conor McGregor Responds to Islam Makhachev Win & Petr Yan Loss at UFC 280