Jimmie Rivera believes he gave new UFC bantamweight champ Petr Yan his toughest fight and hopes to eventually get a rematch.
If that’s to happen, though, Rivera (23-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) knows he’ll need better performances than what he delivered in his unanimous decision win over Cody Stamann (19-3-1 MMA, 5-2-1 UFC) in a featherweight bout Wednesday at UFC on ESPN 13, which took place at Flash Forum at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.
Rivera gave Yan (15-1 MMA, 7-0 UFC) arguably his biggest struggle in the octagon when they met at UFC 238 in June 2019. He lost a unanimous decision, but had more success than most who have fallen to the Russian. Rivera thinks he has what it takes to beat Yan, and his goal is to run it back.
“It irks me,” Rivera told reporters, including MMA Junkie, during the UFC on ESPN 13 post-fight press conference. “It bothers me. I’m not saying I don’t like that he’s champion. I love it. He did an awesome job against (Jose) Aldo, it’s just I came really close to winning that fight and I learned – I had a hard lesson learned of coasting at the end of the first and second round. I knew I was up in the round, I knew I dominated in the last 30 seconds of each the first and second I coasted, and I didn’t make that same mistake tonight when I fought Cody Stamann. I was in the there fighting the whole time focused, eyes on the prize.”
Rivera said he’s not making getting ahead of himself. He knows he came into UFC on ESPN 13 with a 1-3 record in his previous four fights and didn’t necessarily win in a highlight-reel fashion. Rivera said he holds himself to a higher standard than anyone, and although he got an important win, knows he’ll need to step it up going forward.
“I think I have to have some better outcomes,” Rivera said. “I wish I had a finish tonight obviously with the fight so that would’ve sent me even more forward. I’ve just got to put my head down and grind. That’s what I did leading up to the Marlon Moraes fight and I just got to do the same thing now. Put my head down and grind and work hard and get ready.”
Ultimately Rivera is looking up at Yan, though, and using the idea of a rematch as inspiration to climb to the top. Whether he gets there remains to be seen, but Rivera knows what he would be capable of in a rematch.
“Of course he’s beatable,” Rivera said. “I beat him for almost 14 minutes in the fight we had. He won (the fight) because he hit me with two shots – a shot in the first and a shot in the second where I dropped and got back up. It wasn’t like a finish shot, but it was a shot I didn’t see and it’s the shots that you don’t see are the worst shots that you take. Nothing against Petr Yan, he’s a tough S.O.B., but I would love to get that fight back.”
Jimmie Rivera wants to work way to title after UFC on ESPN 13: Petr Yan 'irks me' as champion
