Petr Yan won the belt fight, and then a betting boss promised him a Rolls-Royce. On Sunday, the day after he beat Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333, the bantamweight champion answered a post from the owner of 1win, his sponsor, who had pledged him a Rolls-Royce Cullinan for the win.
“Thank you so much @Owner1win one of the best gifts no doubt 🙏🏼” he wrote on X.
The post Yan quoted from @Owner1win spent a few lines on his work ethic and discipline before getting to the car: “For this victory, Petr will get a Rolls-Royce Cullinan from me. Well deserved 🤝”
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That victory was a tight one. Yan took a unanimous decision on Saturday, Oct. 24, with all three judges turning in 48-47 cards, and he walked out still the champion. One round was the difference on every scorecard, and it showed in the reactions. Championship Rounds posted video of Ilia Topuria watching the result come in, and he wasn’t buying it: “48-47 Yan? Nooo. What are you saying?”
Fans locked onto Yan’s body kick, which ACD MMA turned into a reaction clip for every time it landed on Dvalishvili. UFCStats put up a side-by-side comparing Yan in Rounds 1 and 2 with Yan in Rounds 3, 4 and 5. Later that night, Yan posed for a photo with Alexander Volkanovski, who also won on the card.
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Who’s getting the keys
Yan is 21-5. He’s a Russian fighter out of Archangel Michael Club, and he holds the UFC bantamweight title for the second time. He’s also a former interim champion and a former ACB bantamweight champion, and he sat at No. 4 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings as of Sept. 22. His striking roots run deep. He trained boxing for eight years and earned Master of Sport in the 64 kg category before he ever fought MMA, starting with a third-round knockout of Murad Bakiev in December 2014.
Sponsor gifts this size don’t land every weekend, and 1win’s owner framed it as a reward for one specific night of work. My take is that a title fight decided by a single round on every card, with Topuria loudly disputing it on camera, won’t stay closed. Expect Dvalishvili’s name to stay attached to Yan’s while the champion waits on his Cullinan.
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