Petr Yan scored a big win over Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Macau on Saturday morning, putting his name back in the conversation for a shot at the bantamweight belt.

After five exciting rounds of back-and-forth action, Yan earned a unanimous decision victory over his fellow former champion, with 50-45 scores across the board not reflecting how close several rounds were.

Yan has now won back-to-back decisions over Figueiredo and Song Yadong to snap his first winning streak since 2020.

“I felt like I was in control in the fight, but anything can happen in the UFC,” Yan said after the win, calling for a shot at 135-pound champion Merab Dvalishvili. “Before my fight, Merab said that (me versus Deiveson Figueiredo) deserves a title fight. I want to say, Merab, what do you say now if I beat No. 1 in my division? I want to do a rematch with Merab. Let’s go.”

The former 135-pound champion tried to stop Figueiredo’s undefeated streak in the division, but Figueiredo came out strong in Round 1 by knocking him to the ground. The Brazilian couldn’t do much there, and Yan eventually turned around to stay in top position and land short hammer fists and elbows.

Yan started the second round with body kicks, again avoiding Figueiredo’s takedowns, and finally floored the Brazilian with a beautiful foot move in the final moments of the period.

Round 3 began and Yan clearly started harassing Figueiredo with calf and leg kicks before taking him down with a nasty right uppercut. Yan smelled blood and went to the ground and pounded with hammer fists before “Deus da Guerra” found an opening to get back to his feet.

Figueiredo and Yan started the fourth stanza with a crazy battle that ended with Figueiredo pinning the Russian against the cage to slow the action. Yan knocked off Figueiredo’s mouthpiece with a left uppercut, hurting him again with a two-punch combination, but Figueiredo was the one to score a knockdown. Yan was hurt for a brief second, but got back up to eat another body shot to end the round.

Needing a finish in the fifth, Figueiredo was told by his coaches to “keep (Yan) guessing to kill him by hand.” It was Yan who opened the final round with better shots that landed on the feet and missed a spinning back elbow that left Figueiredo smiling in the center of the cage. Yan and Figueiredo closed the show with trading punches, and the Russian was declared the winner on the scorecards.

Figueiredo congratulated his opponent in the cage after losing for the first time at bantamweight. The former UFC flyweight champion was 3-0 in the division against Rob Font, Cody Garbrandt and Marlon Vera before stumbling against Yan.

“Holy sh*t, brother,” Figueiredo said in the octagon. “Hats off to Petr Yan. Today was his day. We can only bear the burden that God gives, and today was His day. Tomorrow I promise to come back better. I always do that. I always come back feeling better.”

Click here for full UFC Macau results.