Dana White says it would be 'tough to say no' to Petr Yan as the greatest bantamweight ever
Yan kept the UFC bantamweight title with a unanimous decision over Merab Dvalishvili in their trilogy fight at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi.

It would be hard to argue against Petr Yan as the greatest bantamweight in history, Dana White said at the UFC 333 post-fight press conference in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.
Asked whether Yan's win made him the greatest bantamweight ever, the UFC boss said: "Yeah, it would be tough to say no. It would be very difficult to say no."
All three judges scored the five-round fight 48-47 for Yan, who took the title from Dvalishvili at UFC 323 in December 2025 and now leads their rivalry 2-1 (read more).
At the pre-fight press conference on Thursday, White was asked whether the winner would be the best bantamweight of all time and said: "Off the top of my head, I don't know the answer to that question, but let's see how Saturday goes. But more than likely, yes." (read more)

Every UK fight result and what's next, every Friday. Get the free UK fight briefing
More MMA from Combat Sports UK
- Alexander Volkanovski would retire 'win or lose' after a Justin Gaethje super fight
- Dana White says Petr Yan's next opponent is between Song Yadong and Sean O'Malley
- Dana White says Islam Makhachev did not want to fight until after Ramadan
- Lone'er Kavanagh wants UFC flyweight title shot and would be backup for Van v Kape
The UK fight briefing
The stories, results and upcoming fights worth knowing. Every Friday.
About this report
Reported by the Combat Sports UK desk. Times are UK and Irish time, and we update the report when the facts change. How we work.



