Peter Yan defeated Dvalishvili and regained the UFC title. 5 facts about the Russian athlete

Russian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter Peter Yan defeated Georgian Merab Dvalishvili and regained the belt of the UFC champion in the lightest weight category. The fight lasted all five rounds and ended with the victory of the Russian by unanimous decision. What is known about the athlete is in the Izvestia article.

Fact 1. Growing up in a big family in harsh Siberia

• Peter grew up in a big family. He has seven siblings. My childhood years were spent in Dudinka in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. In this city, winter lasts for almost six months, and the temperature quietly drops below minus fifty. Such conditions tempered the character of the future champion early.

• When Peter turned 15, he moved to Omsk on his own, deciding to build a future far from the harsh Arctic. Later, his life path led to Yekaterinburg. Already a famous fighter, Jan became the father of two sons. He admitted that they have become the main source of motivation.

Fact 2. Diverse roots

• Peter has mixed roots on his father's side: his grandfather was Chinese, and his grandmother was of Russian-Georgian descent. On the mother's side, there are only Russian roots in the family. At the same time, the athlete himself emphasizes that his worldview is shaped by Russian culture, and considers himself an Orthodox Russian.

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• He has said more than once that the idea of "pure nationalities" has practically lost its relevance in the modern world. According to Peter, the most important thing is who a person considers himself to be in his soul. Therefore, he considers conversations about origin to be only attempts to distract from the essence of personality.

Fact 3. The sporting path began with a rebellion

The future UFC champion worked on the Yenisei River at the age of 14, unloading heavy bags from barges to support his family. He worked alongside adults, not inferior to them in strength. One of the coach's acquaintances, noticing the teenager's perseverance and endurance, advised him to take a closer look at the guy. So Peter got a chance to try himself at a sports school.

Boxing became Ian's first martial art, and he followed his older brother there. Already in his youth, Peter showed rare perseverance and quickly rose to the level of a master of sports. But early successes were also accompanied by conflicts. At one of the youth tournaments, he was unhappy with the decision of the judges and impulsively threw his gloves in the direction of the chief referee.

• This episode was one of the turning points. He convinced Peter that in some sports, subjectivity can be worth the result. That's why when Yang discovered MMA, where there are fewer restrictions than in boxing, he felt that he had found an honest arena. His mixed martial arts debut came after several training sessions due to the need to earn a living.

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• Already in his youth, in sparring, Jan surprised with hard punches and a stubborn character. At the same time, in life he was content with casual earnings. Even at night he participated in kickboxing matches for the sake of earning money, and in the morning he went to city competitions. Later, when Peter started competing in MMA, he ended up in Thailand, where the future manager saw discipline and potential in him, offered cooperation and helped him sign a contract with the UFC.

Fact 4. I found my future wife on social media

• The history of Peter and Julia's relationship began with a correspondence on VKontakte. Both of them were young, and their first personal meeting took place in Krasnoyarsk. However, further events developed rapidly. Yang showed a firm character, which had the same assertiveness as in sports. Julia recalled that the fans around her quickly had to "give up the territory."

• Peter literally wouldn't let other competitors near the girl. He gave his future wife a new phone and a SIM card and made it clear that he intended to build a serious relationship. Since then, they have supported each other for many years, going through both ups and difficult stages of their sports careers.

Fact 5. The first fees were spent on rental housing

• Jan's success in the UFC was no accident. He came to him through modest fees in regional leagues and numerous fights with minimal financial return. The first steps in MMA were forced. He needed to help his family, and for the debut match he received only 20 thousand rubles. However, it was this victory that convinced Peter that MMA could become not just a side job, but a life's work.

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• Once in the UFC, he quickly became one of the brightest fighters in the lightweight division. A series of impressive victories led to a title fight with Jose Aldo in 2020, after which Yang became the champion of the promotion. Financially, it was also a big leap. Over the years, his income has already exceeded $5 million. Peter himself once called this amount the minimum goal of his entire career. Now he has already fulfilled his dream, and after the fight with Dvalishvili, he added another half a million dollars to himself.