Petr Yan has made no secret of his desire to challenge Henry Cejudo for the UFC bantmaweight title, but he has also revealed the identity of another significant name in the division with whom he would like to share the octagon in the future: T.J. Dillashaw.
Former bantamweight champion Dillashaw (16-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) was banned for two years by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after testing positive for recombinant human erythropoietin (rHuEPO), more commonly known as EPO, on Jan. 18, 2019. He will be eligible to return to competition on Jan. 18, 2021, and Yan (14-1 MMA, 6-0 UFC) says he would have no issue facing Dillashaw when he returns to the octagon.
“I’d be interested in this fight,” he told Russian outlet RT Sport. “Ever since I started my career, I’ve watched his fights. I like him as a fighter. I think he’s a competitive fighter, so I’d be glad to fight him in the future. And I think it will happen. It’s just about one year, and he’ll be back. He’s a big name. I think he’ll be back to the rankings when he comes back, so I think we’ll fight.”
Dillashaw’s return from a doping suspension means the spotlight will be on the former champion when he makes his UFC comeback. That fact gives Yan confidence the American won’t reoffend if the pair ever agreed to face off.
“I don’t care,” he said. “He’s been caught, and he’s not denying it. But I don’t really care. He’ll be tested more carefully. So on fight night he’ll be clean.”
Yan also revealed his high-octane performances on the Russian scene prior to joining the UFC had led to accusations of doping being thrown his way. But he explained the USADA testing program wasn’t the first anti-doping testing he had been subjected to in his MMA career.
“There was a lot of talk,” he said. “Let’s take my second fight with Magomed Magomedov in ACB. After our first fight, people said, ‘How is he still fresh after five rounds?’ In the second fight, I was the same – fresh after five rounds. But I was more rational, and I knew that I had to give him a chance to work. But in our last fight, ACB checked me for doping, as well as in my title defense fight. Not too many people know about that. I haven’t spoken about it much.
“So if anyone is curious, I think if ACB had found anything, they would definitely have made it public. And then, ahead of my signing with the UFC, there were six to seven months when they couldn’t sign me because I tore my ACL and my manager told the UFC about it. They said, ‘When you heal up, when you’re ready, we’ll restart the dialogue with you.’ So many people (in Russia) – again, the same people who wanted (to say it) – said, ‘He’s cleaning up his doping.’ I was ready to accept a fight in a month or two or three. I wouldn’t want to hype it up. Plus, back then, I didn’t really have the resources. The media wasn’t paying much attention to me back then.
“During the period of a year and a half, I’ve been checked (by USADA) about 10 times. Almost every month,” he said. “I think that if they had found anything in my system, I wouldn’t be here now.”
Petr Yan wants T.J. Dillashaw after ex-champ's suspension: 'On fight night, he’ll be clean'
