Petr Yan Desperate For UFC White House Fight

Petr Yan, the reigning UFC bantamweight champion, has issued an appeal to the UFC, urging the promotion to grant him a slot on the UFC White House card on June 14.

Yan’s request comes as he enters the final stages of recovery from back surgery. After his masterful performance at UFC 323 last December—where he snapped Merab Dvalishvili’s 14-fight winning streak to reclaim the title—Yan underwent surgery for chronic back issues.

“I was under anaesthesia for nine hours. I had surgery on my lower back yesterday. A couple of months and I’ll be back in action,” Yan revealed

While Yan’s physical health is improving—with the champion reporting he is “almost fully recovered” and back to light technical drills—his nationality has become a central talking point. Merab Dvalishvili recently claimed the UFC informed him that a trilogy fight at the White House is “impossible” due to Yan’s Russian citizenship.

Yan Reacts

The Georgian suggested that there may be an exclusion of Russian athletes. To date, the UFC has not confirmed any nationality-based restrictions. Not only does Yan want to fight on the card, he also hopes it leads to a future bout in Russia. 

“The UFC told me I’m next for the belt. They said there will be a trilogy between me and Yan. They also told me that our fight will not happen at the White House in June because (Yan) is Russian, and that’s impossible,” Merab revealed

“I haven’t heard a definite regarding UFC fighters, but the UFC is a huge international organization with fighters from all over the world. I think that, if anything, this would be an incredible gesture of goodwill, to show that sports, after all, are outside of politics. The goal is, first, we take the White House. Then we’ll do a huge event in the Red Square,” Yan said