Petr Yan rolled back the years to dominate Merab Dvalishvili and win the UFC bantamweight championship atop the UFC 323 card that took place on Saturday, the 6th of December at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
That Dvalishvili, 34, who is renowned for his cardio, wrestling, and ruthless wins over Sean O’Malley (twice), Henry Cejudo, and Jose Aldo succumbed to a one-sided loss to Yan only elevates what the Russian accomplished. At one point, Yan had lost three fights in a row, and it appeared unclear if he’d ever compete at the highest echelons of MMA ever again. But against Dvalishvili, Yan showed he is not only still good enough to beat the elite, but able to manhandle the GOATs of the division, too.
Considering it was his second fight against Dvalishvili, and there are others in the rankings he could fight, also, it begs the question as to who Petr Yan should fight next.
Joshua Van wins UFC belt after the champion, Alexandre Pantoja, suffered a dislocated shoulder after just 26 seconds.
Petr Yan Next Fight
At the post-event press conference, a reporter asked Yan what he’d prefer next: a trilogy bout with Merab Dvalishvili, or a fight against Umar Nurmagomedov. “They can rematch,” he said. “We will see what happens.”
Based on that, it appears Yan is happy to fight either, but only if they fight one another first, and he’ll take on the winner.
Outside of fighters he’s already beaten, it leaves Yan with few other viable challengers. He could take on the No.2-ranked O’Malley, whom he lost to during his three-fight skid, and so it’s a shot at redemption, but the American striker is on a two-fight losing run himself, and so the fight could be a hard sell.
There is No.4-ranked Cory Sandhagen, but Yan beat him in 2021, and Sandhagen, too, lost his last fight — a defeat via decision to Dvalishvili.
UFC boss Dana White commented on the situation with heavyweight champion Tom Aspinall, and his health.
Another Dvalishvili Fight Could be on The Cards, One Way or Another
Dvalishvili was widely regarded as one of the best bantamweights in UFC history, and Dana White and UFC’s matchmakers may reward his 14-fight run with an immediate shot at getting his old belt back. And so it’s easy to see a scenario in which the trilogy fight between the Georgian and Yan is a foregone conclusion.
White, though, was non-committal on whether Dvalishvili’s status at the company, and his performance, warranted an instant rematch.
Joao Palhinha has confirmed that he won’t be a Tottenham Hotspur player next season following a big U-turn by manager Roberto De Zerbi.
Tottenham have been the busiest Premier League club by far in the summer transfer window, with Sandro Tonali set to become their sixth addition imminently after Spurs agreed a club-record £100m fee with Newcastle United for the Italy international.
The 26-year-old follows fellow midfielder Mateus Fernandes through the door at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has meant that De Zerbi has had to backtrack on his previous comments.
The Italian boss had previous said that Palhinha was someone he ‘100%’ wanted to sign this summer, after the Portugal international played a huge part in the club’s survival last season.
Palhinha scored two crucial goals against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Everton during the run-in, and while Tottenham didn’t take up the option they had to sign him on a permanent basis, it was expected that they would try and renegotiate the terms.
However, the north Londoners have now turned their back on a deal for the Bayern Munich star, having landed both Fernandes and Tonali for their midfield in big-money deals.
The Azteca Stadium in Mexico sparked conversations across football during the 2026 World Cup, with venue sitting 2,200m above sea level. It has been argued that the home stadium of the Mexico national team gives the host nation a huge advantage, as visiting teams struggle with the high altitude and limited oxygen.
It is an argument with merit, considering that Mexico have only lost two competitive matches at the stadium since it opened in 1966. Build-up to games often revolves around the ‘thin air’ narrative, with sports scientists lining up to explain how the lack of oxygen would hit visiting legs by the hour mark.
However, the twist is that the Azteca doesn’t even crack the top 10 highest football stadiums on the planet – it isn’t even close. There is a cluster of grounds that make Mexico City’s altitude look almost pedestrian, plus outliers on three other continents that rarely get a mention. Some of these venues sit so high that the pitches themselves have had to be rebuilt with artificial turf, because grass simply doesn’t work at such elevation.
Top 10 Highest Altitude Stadiums in the World
Stadium
Location
Altitude
Estadio Daniel Alcides Carrion
Cerro de Pasco, Peru
4,338m (14,232ft)
El Alto Municipal Stadium
El Alto, Bolivia
4,088m (13,412ft)
Estadio Victor Agustin Ugarte
Potosi, Bolivia
3,890m (12,762ft)
Estadio Enrique Torres Belon
Puno, Peru
3,829m (12,562 ft)
Estadio Guillermo Briceno Rosamedina
Juliaca, Peru
3,825m (12,549ft)
Estadio Jesus Bermudez
Oruro, Bolivia
3,735m (12,254ft)
Estadio Hernando Siles
La Paz, Bolivia
3,582m (11,752ft)
Estadio Inca Garcilaso de la Vega
Cusco, Peru
3,402m (11,161 ft)
Estadio Huancayo
Huancayo, Peru
3,259m (10,690ft)
Estadio El Campin
Bogota, Colombia
2,553 (8,376 ft)
Topping the list by some distance is Estadio Daniel Alcides Carrion in Cerro de Pasco, Peru. It is officially recognised as the highest football stadium in the world at 4,338m above sea level. It’s the home of Union Minas, and the ground holds around 10,000 supporters,tucked into one of the highest cities on earth. Extraordinarily, the stadium sits higher than some Mount Everest base camps and well above the altitude at which altitude sickness can become a genuine concern for those unfamiliar with it.
Cerro de Pasco itself has been a silver-mining town, and the stadium’s synthetic pitch, installed in 2012, exists because natural grass genuinely struggles to grow at such heights. It’s a detail that sums up how extreme the conditions are, with the stadium needing to be completely redesigned for it to function.
Bolivia, meanwhile, dominates the rest of the upper table, with three of the top six venues on this list found within its borders.
There is a wider context to this matter as well. FIFA temporarily banned international matches above 2,500m in May 2007after Brazilian club Flamengo needed bottled oxygen during a Copa Libertadores match in Potosi, sparking anger among Bolivians. The ban was revoked before it had even been in place for a year, but it remains the reference point for any conversation about altitude and the sport, and it’s why acclimatisation schedules are now standard practice for touring squads.
The fans in these venues are among the most passionate in the world, making for some incredible atmospheres.
South America
Estadio Daniel Alcides Carrion, Peru – 4,338m
The undisputed summit of world football, Estadio Daniel Alcides Carrion, sits inside Cerro de Pasco, one of the highest cities on the planet. Home to Union Minas and a regular Copa Peru venue, the stadium fitted an artificial surface in 2012 after natural grass was unable to grow. FIFA officially recognises it as the world’s highest ground.
Africa
Addis Ababa Stadium, Ethiopia – 2,400m
Africa’s entry sits in Ethiopia’s capital, itself one of the highest capital cities on the continent at somewhere around 2,350–2,400m above sea level (precise figures vary depending on the exact measuring point in the city). The stadium has long served as the home of Ethiopian football and hosts both domestic league fixtures and international matches for the national side. It doesn’t threaten the Andean giants for altitude, but it’s a useful reminder that thin-air football isn’t purely a South American story, and other continents such as Africa can produce similar conditions.
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North America
Estadio Azteca, Mexico – 2,200m
Estadio Azteca, rebranded as Mexico City stadium for World Cup 2026, hosted the opening match of the tournament between Mexico and South Africa, becoming the first venue to host three separate World Cup openers, after previously staging the tournament in 1970 and 1986. At roughly 2,200m above sea level, it’s the end of Mexico’s altitude spread, and it’s tough on unacclimatised visitors, even if it’s nowhere near the top of the global ranks.
Europe
Ottmar Hitzfield Arena, Switzerland – 2,012m
Europe’s answer is a world away from purpose-built elite level stadiums. The Ottmar Hitzfield stadium sits in Gspon, a car-free Swiss hamlet reachable only by cable car, and is the continent’s highest football pitch at just over 2,000m. Home to amateur side FC Gspon, the artificial surface is smaller than regulation size and hemmed in by a safety net to stop wayward shots tumbling hundreds of feet down the mountainside. It’s named after former Bayern Munich and Switzerland boss Ottmar Hitzfeld, who took the ceremonial kick-off when it opened in 2008.
Asia
Dasharath Rangasala, Nepal 1,400m
Nepal’s national stadium in Kathmandu is Asia’s highest-profile entry, sitting somewhere around 1,300-1,400m above sea level depending on the exact measuring point in the valley. Built in 1956, Dasharath Rangasala has hosted the AFC Challenge Cup, the SAFF Championship and multiple South Asian games, though it’s carried a dark history too; a 1988 stampede during a hailstorm killed dozens of spectators. There are almost certainly higher, unrecorded pitches scattered across Central Asia’s mountain interior, particularly in Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, but reliable published data is minute, and none hosted organised top-level football like the Dasharath Rangasala has.
Estadio Azteca is the highest stadium of all 16 venues used at the 2026 World Cup by a wide margin, and one of the most storied grounds in football history, having hosted three separate World Cups, a feat that no other stadium can claim.
So, what is the altitude of the stadium and what are the effects? GIVEMESPORT takes a look.
The Azteca is high by 2026 World Cup standards, but modest next to South America’s true altitude giants, several of which sit above FIFA’s old 2,500m threshold for international matches.
The highest altitude stadium in the world is Peru’s Estadio Daniel Alcides Carrion, which sits an incredibls 4,338m above sea level, nearly twice as high as the Azteca.
You can see a list of some of the highest stadiums below for comparison.
Eagle-eyed fans may be confused as to why there are different names for the World Cup arenas than usual – the answer is frighteningly simple.
Does Altitude Give Mexico an Advantage?
Raquel Cunha via Reuters
The short answer is yes, it’s a very big advantage. The national team have lost just twice in 89 competitive matches at the stadium, and has gone unbeaten there for well over a decade — a record few nations can touch on home soil anywhere in the world.
As per The Guardian, Mexican football commissioner Mikel Arriola: “We have a massive advantage because we’re playing at the Estadio Azteca with our fans and the altitude. It is a very potent setting.”
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Thinner air at 2,200m means less resistance on the ball, so it travels faster and dips less than at sea level – a wrinkle that can catch out goalkeepers and defenders unfamiliar with the conditions.
More significantly, it means less oxygen in every breath, which hits visiting players hardest in the legs and lungs: heart rates climb quicker, sprints are harder to repeat, and pressing intensity drops off as the game wears on — exactly the kind of high-tempo football most European and South American sides are built to play.
There’s no quick fix for it either, with sports scientists generally agreeing that two to three weeks at altitude is needed to meaningfully boost red blood cell production and oxygen-carrying capacity — a luxury a tight tournament schedule doesn’t allow.
Some squads, like South Korea, base themselves in elevated cities to adapt to the conditions, whilst teams like Colombia arrive with a natural edge from training at similar altitude levels back home. But those flying in directly from sea level are faced with a rough opening half, and are advised to hydrate heavily and avoid overexertion in their first 24 hours in the city.
What Have Players and Coaches Said?
REUTERS/Peter Cziborra
The altitude conversation resurfaces every time a lowland side draws Mexico, and the 2026 World was no exception.
Ahead of facing Mexico in the Round of 16 at the Azteca, England manager Thomas Tuchel told the BBC: “The altitude will be a big disadvantage because we cannot physically adapt to it. And in four days, it’s just impossible. More obstacles may come, we are ready for that.”
My understanding is that we cannot adapt to the altitude. That is just a huge advantage that Mexico will have. We have only three days in between these matches. Its physically just not possible to adapt to the altitude, which is quite high.”
Former West Ham midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker is one of few English players to have played at the Azteca stadium, and is fully aware of the challenges sides face, saying:
“It’s the most physically demanding place I have ever played football. To come from Europe and play in that altitude is so difficult. You cannot catch your breath. The first 45 to 55 minutes, you’re just trying to keep breathing.”
Senior Research Fellow at Leeds Beckett University, Dr Barney Wainwright, also told the BBC: “Maximum aerobic capacity at this kind of altitude usually drops around 10%, and that has a knock-on to performance. There will usually be a 15–20% increase in fatigue. For the distance it’s possible to cover, we would expect that to drop by 5-10%.
“Maximum sprint speeds won’t be affected, but players will need to wait a bit longer to recover from each one and go again. England might want to slow things down more to allow players time to recover between bouts of high-intensity play.”
Whether it is the intense home atmosphere, Mexico’s quality, the high altitude, or a combination of the three. One thing for certain is that the Azteca Stadium is one of the most difficult environments in world football, with visiting sides at a disadvantage before a ball has been kicked.
