The UFC will close out it's 2025 pay-per-view schedule, as well as its era of ESPN+ pay-per-views, with UFC 323, which will take place on December 6 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and feature two title fights.
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In the main event, Merab Dvalishvili will get his wish -- an opportunity to become the first UFC champion to successfully defend his title four times in a calendar year. To accomplish this, he will need to get through former champion Petr Yan.
Dvalishvili and Yan previously met in the main event of UFC Las Vegas in March 2024, with Dvalishvili picking up a unanimous decision win.
Since then, Dvalishvili defeated Sean O'Malley for the bantamweight title at Noche UFC 2: UFC 306, and he has successfully retained the gold against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311, O'Malley at UFC 316, and, recently, Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320.
Yan has won three straight, scoring decisions over Song Yadong, Deiveson Figueiredo, and Marcus McGhee. Yan won the bantamweight title with a finish of Jose Aldo at UFC 251 but lost the title on an infamous disqualification loss to Aljamain Sterling. He'd win the interim title by defeating Sandhagen but lost an undisputed title rematch with Sterling.
UFC 323 To Be Headlined By Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan, Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van
As spoiled days ago at UFC Rio, the flyweight title will be on the line in the co-main event, as Alexandre Pantoja defends against Joshua Van.
Since winning the flyweight title from Brandon Moreno at UFC 290, Pantoja has retained the gold against Brandon Royval at UFC 296, Steve Erceg at UFC 301, Kai Asakura at UFC 310, and Kai Kara-France at UFC 317. Van, who is 8-1 since joining the UFC, has had a major climb up the UFC's flyweight ranks in 2025. Van defeated Rei Tsuruya at UFC 313, finished Bruno Silva at UFC 316, and won a short-notice war with Royval at UFC 317 to earn the title shot.
UFC 323 will also feature Moreno in action against Tatsuro Taira, in a bout that could have implications on the challenger of the Pantoja vs. Van winner.
UFC 323 will also see former flyweight and bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo in action against Payton Talbott and former light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz taking on Bogdan Guskov.
All of the announced fights for UFC 323 so far can be found below:
- Bantamweight Championship: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan
- Flyweight Championship: Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van
- Flyweight: Brandon Moreno vs. Tatsuro Taira
- Bantamweight: Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott
- Light Heavyweight: Jan Błachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov
- Middleweight: Marvin Vettori vs. Brunno Ferreira
- Women's Flyweight: Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva
- Middleweight: Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Antonio Trocoli
- Lightweight: Terrance McKinney vs. Chris Duncan
- Lightweight: Fares Ziam vs. Nazim Sadykhov