Petr Yan considers future move to featherweight

Yan eyes 145 pounds but does not want to face friend Volkanovski

Petr Yan has publicly stated that he could envision moving down to the featherweight division in the future.

He was recently asked if, in theory, he would be interested in a bout with Joshua Van should the latter move up to the bantamweight division. Petr Yan replied that the decision was not up to him, but rather that Joshua Van would have to decide whether he is ready to change weight classes. However, that wouldn’t be the only issue; he himself has also been talking about a possible weight class change, and what might be holding him back from doing so at the moment.

“If someone wants to move up and challenge me, it’s a question for them, not for me. But personally, for myself, moving up sounds interesting too, maybe somewhere in the future. Just 145 pounds champ is my friend Alex Volkanovski, so I don’t want to beat him up”

he told Full Violence.

Petr Yan reclaimed the bantamweight title last December with a somewhat unexpected victory over Merab Dvalishvili. Now he’s set to defend the title against Merab Dvalishvili again on October 24. It’s going to be an exciting matchup and could very well be a decisive factor in shaping Petr Yan’s future. What do you think, how much longer will he stay in the bantamweight division?

I think he’ll eventually be drawn to move up in weight. I also can’t imagine him fighting Alexander Volkanovski anytime soon, but until then, he’d have to win a couple of fights in the division first, and the titleholder can’t lose his belt either. I’m curious to see what happens.