"I got the real, original championship belt, I had it over my shoulder. We went and did the press conference and as soon as I was coming off the press conference stage, one of the UFC employees says, 'I gotta get that belt and I'm gonna give you this one.' And I said, 'Wait, what do you mean you gotta get this? This is the belt, I want this belt. Why do you need this?'"
"This is a new history, this is a new chapter, this is a new belt, and I wasn't gonna be leaving without it. I feel like it wasn't really nice or correct from the standpoint of the company or the standpoint of the employee of the company, to try and take my original belt."
Petr Yan defeated Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323 in December to reclaim the bantamweight title for the second time. Following the post-fight press conference, a UFC employee approached Yan requesting he hand over his championship belt in exchange for a replica. The staff member justified the request by stating Yan already possessed an original belt from his first title reign. Yan rejected the offer, arguing that his recent victory represented a new chapter and achievement warranting the authentic belt. He expressed disappointment with the UFC's handling of the situation, viewing the attempted exchange as inappropriate regardless of who authorized it.
Read at Sherdog
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