Former UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan has divided fans with his latest Twitter outburst, warning rival Cody Garbrandt after his loss at UFC Fight Night on Saturday while blasting 'No Love' over his "technical flaws".
Headlining the card in Las Vegas, Garbrandt was outclassed in losing to Rob Font by a unanimous decision with scores of 48-47, 50-45 and 50-45 on the cards.
Announcing himself as a contender at 135lb, Font demonstrated top-level boxing that Garbrandt couldn't get to grips with.
Respecting his opponent's undeniable knockout power, Font kept Garbrandt at bay with a stellar jab and later revealed that discipline handed him the keys to victory.
"I can't go hook for hook with him," Font admitted in his post-fight interview. "I was preaching the whole time: stay disciplined. I really believe it's the best jab in UFC."
Now ranked number four, he voiced a desire to face the winner of TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen's fight, while Garbrandt is on the outside looking in at a division he once ruled.
Losing four of his last five outings, Garbrandt can perhaps take solace in the fact he wasn't knocked out this time, like in three of those defeats to Dillashaw (twice) and Pedro Munhoz.
But clearly something is amiss. As he nurses a 12-4 record, watching Yan was quick to jump on the setback and note that Garbrandt might be done at the top table after a tragic fall from grace since becoming champion at UFC 207 by dominating division great Dominick Cruz in late 2016.
Living up to his nickname 'No Mercy', Yan, who was stripped of his bantamweight crown for kneeing Aljamain Sterling in the face at UFC 259 in March, showed none of it by first asking: "I don’t know what else you expected?"
"Being calm is not gonna compensate all of Cody’s technical flaws," he added, in reference to a more cool-headed approach than the bull-in-a-china shop alternative that saw Garbrandt knocked out so often.
"I wish him to bounce back though, because I still want to kick his ass in the future."
"And don’t worry Rob [Font] – one day I will f*ck you up too.
"I have another business to handle now," he signed off, in a nod to a rematch with Sterling mooted for later this year.
"You're very unlikeable," came one critical yet popular reply to the Russian.
"I wish you were technically good enough to not knee [Sterling] when he's down," said another.
"Maybe you won't cheat in your next fight and then cry about losing?," asked a fellow hater, while a critic chimed in: "Hate seeing sh*t like this."
Some skeptics doubted that Yan had even written the tweet himself, casting aspersions on the near-perfect use of English.
But it wasn't all scorn as others branded him a "legend", a "true G", and a "king" for getting "right to the point as always".
"Man, Peter is a savage. These Russians are built different," an impressed onlooker remarked.
A pocket of fans agreed with Yan on Garbrandt, calling the Ohio native a "one-trick pony".
Elsewhere, Yan was tipped to write "all of them names to his blacklist for a purge after he reclaims his throne".
He can only do that once Sterling has recovered from neck surgery "to address a medical issue he has dealt with for nearly 10 years", as ESPN reported last month.
"They told me I will heal in three months and can start doing cardio to get myself ready," the Jamaican-American told the media outlet.
Also on rt.com Knockout motor: Ex-UFC champ Yan hits brakes on mocking ‘clown’ sterling to become first Russian owner of limited edition BMW car"They wouldn't want to see me take a fight until they see everything has fused in my neck correctly. Five months would be ideal, if I heal up really quick.
"I'm excited," Sterling claimed. "The faster I heal up, the faster I can fight. We'll find out in the next three months and get something on schedule."
But Yan didn't buy that either, demanding at the time that "laughing stock" Sterling should be stripped of the belt.
"See you in October, Peanut Butter Pan. Sincerely, your champ – suck it and life goes on," hit back Sterling.
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