Petr Yan Signs New 4-Fight UFC Deal; May Face John Dodson at UFC Prague

Just signed new 4 fight deal with UFC and... bout agreement too. It will be my 4th UFC appearance inside 8 month

— Petr “No Mercy” Yan (@PetrYanUFC) January 10, 2019

A fast-rising star of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Petr Yan has been issued a new contract, and with it his next opponent is likely to be John Dodson.

Ultimate Fighting Championship Yan announced on Thursday that he has signed a new four-fight deal with the UFC, and according to an ESPN report, Yan (11-1) will be facing Dodson (20-10) in a bantamweight tussle at UFC Fight Night 145 at the O2 Arena in Prague.

Former Absolute Championship Akhmat bantamweight kingpin Yan stormed on to the UFC scene by blitzing Teruto Ishihara in the first round, becoming the first man to knock out the Japanese veteran. Making his debut in June 2018, Yan has already rattled off three wins, including a “Fight of the Night” battle with Jin Soo Son. Most recently, he is coming off a rare corner stoppage victory over Douglas Silva de Andrade at UFC 232 -- another fighter never stopped with strikes in his 28-fight career.

Dodson, a two-time flyweight title challenger, has alternated wins and losses in each of his last eight bouts dating back to 2015. Winner of Season 14 of “The Ultimate Fighter” after knocking out current bantamweight champ T.J. Dillashaw, Dodson dropped down to flyweight for seven bouts. At flyweight, Dodson only lost in that division to former champ Demetrious Johnson, but after two losses to the flyweight king he went back up to bantamweight. In his last bout, Dodson lost a decision to Jimmie Rivera at UFC 228 in September.

UFC Fight Night 145, also known as UFC on ESPN+ 3, will take place at the O2 Arena in Prague, Czech Republic on Feb. 23. A light heavyweight tilt between Poland’s Jan Blachowicz and Brazil’s Thiago Santos will headline the promotion’s first trek to the Czech Republic.