Petr Yan actually is doing the same - he is (or probably was) in Thailand, training in Tiger Muay Thai. That is Petrs problem, he is to confident in himself, he gets same camps. That is why he looses by split decisions. Thanks to his skills two last fights were split decisions instead of unanimous. I think he is surrounded by wrong guys partially. He should try changing his fight plan instead of relying much on striking only. Aljo read him like a book with that in their second find and was controlling him smiling. Merab is going to do the same. If Petr wants to win, he should rush from the beginning, stop his usual slow start and increased tempo, otherwise Merab would win because he would take first two rounds, show some control during third round and win. P.S. Will it be 3 or 5 round fight ?
Happened exactly as I thought, just screwed by final decision. Petr was completely dominated by Merab. Reason is simple - Petr is surrounded by wrong people imho. They told him that he "almost win" , "bad judging", "UFC are against Russians" and etc. Petr believes in that continued to do the same during camps. Going to Thailand to train in Tiger Muay Thai isnt working anymore. Imho the real reasons why he trained there fruits, weather, sun and sea. Petr isnt hungry anymore, too much confident and relaxed. Many have told him, that he should go to Dagestan, to mountains, to train in severe conditions. That he should stop his "morning training, party with family, evening training, party with family" routine.
Petr should go from heaven to earth. He should understand that he isnt a big star yet. Who has he beaten? Old Faber and Aldo. Won title and now can relax? First ever defence and he did not cope with the stress.