Petr Yan has picked out a new name for the place where he plans to defend his title. According to MMA Sucka, the bantamweight champion intends to turn Abu Dhabi’s Yas Island into Yan Island before UFC 333. The headline is all we have so far. There’s no word on how he plans to make it stick or whether anyone at the local tourism office has been consulted.
The bigger news is the fight itself. Yan meets Merab Dvalishvili in the co-main event of UFC 333 on October 24 in Abu Dhabi, a rematch with the 135-pound title on the line. The UFC leaned into the build on Tuesday with a throwback clip on X of the first time Yan became undisputed champion, captioning it with a note that he looks to defend his belt against Dvalishvili in the UFC 333 co-main event.
Above them on the card, Alexander Volkanovski faces Movsar Evloev in the main event. That makes it a stacked night for the lighter divisions in a city that has become a regular home for these fights.
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Yan’s first reign goes back a while. MMA Fighting’s Morning Report brought up UFC 250 this week. In June 2020, Aljamain Sterling and Cory Sandhagen fought on that main card, and the winner was expected to get the next crack at Yan’s bantamweight belt. Sterling took Sandhagen down and choked him out in under 90 seconds. Sterling recalled on his YouTube channel that Sandhagen found him in the courtyard later that night and told him, “Congrats, you f*cking asshole.” Sterling’s answer was one word: “Fair.”
Dvalishvili sits fourth in Yahoo Sports’ latest UFC power rankings. The outlet framed UFC 333 as his chance to win the belt back. It also argued he’ll need to take Yan down more often this time if he wants the strap around his waist again. That’s the tactical hinge of the rematch in one sentence. Dvalishvili’s path runs through the mat, and Yan has to keep the fight where he can do damage.
Yan isn’t the only family member drawing attention this week. Fight analyst Dovy posted on X that Yan’s brother looks like a middleweight version of the champ, which feels like a warning to whoever ends up across from that guy someday.
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My take: I’m all in on Yan Island. Fighters spend so much of fight week reading prepared lines about respect and hard work that a champion trying to rebrand a whole island counts as a gift. It’s funny, and it’s petty in the best way. It also puts the pressure squarely on him, because nobody forgets a claim like that if it goes sideways. If Dvalishvili gets his wrestling going early and keeps chaining takedowns, the island keeps its name and Yan wears the joke for months. If Yan stuffs those shots and starts landing, somebody at the UFC should be printing Yan Island shirts by the post-fight press conference. We find out October 24.
