Despite seemingly finding himself down in a 0-2 hole early, Petr Yan rallied in a highly entertaining bout with Merab Dvalishvili to take the decision in their trilogy fight and retain the UFC bantamweight championship. The bout served as the UFC 333 co-main event.
Yan looked to take the center early, and he fended off five takedown attempts in the first round. Dvalishvili, however, had a lot of offensive output with his strikes, and he managed to find the takedown late in the round.
Dvalishvili landed a pair of takedowns early into round two, but Yan reversed position on the second attempt. Dvalishvili, however, continued to push the pace, pressuring Yan with his wrestling while mixing in punches.
Yan tried to work his jab in the third round, but Dvalishvili continued to overwhelm him. Yan, however, had his moments and seemed to change momentum. While he didn’t tire Dvalishvili out, Yan landed a noteworthy kick to the liver, as well as starting to get his punching going in the second half of round three.
Yan’s striking then started to pick up, and he took control in round four. Yan connected on a number of shots upstairs, appearing to bust up Dvalishvili’s nose (again) in the process.
With the rivalry coming down to the final round, Yan continued to find his mark on Dvalishvili, landing with power and stuffing Dvalishvili’s takedown attempts. Dvalishvili would find shots on the inside, but they weren’t as effective as Yan’s by comparison.
Yan retained the title 48-47 on all three scorecards.
This was Yan’s first title defense since defeating Dvalishvili for the championship at UFC 323. The two first met at a UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas in March 2023, with Dvalishvili winning.
Song Yadong, off his knockout of Umar Nurmagomedov a couple of months ago, was cageside for the bout. Yan, in his post-fight interview, said he’d be open to any challenger, including Yadong, the UFC puts in front of him.
