Petr Yan owned the UFC men’s bantamweight belt as far back as 2020, but he never looked more like a champion than he did Saturday night, as he dethroned Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision in an action-packed main event of UFC 323 in Las Vegas.
Two judges scored the bout 49-46, while the other had it 48-47 for Yan.
Yan (20-5) was the aggressor throughout, which wasn’t the case in Dvalishvili’s previous fights, including the first meeting with Yan.
In 2023, after Yan’s reign as champion had ended and Dvalishvili’s had not yet begun, Dvalishvili scored a dominant decision win over Yan with a relentlessly forward-moving attack. Dvalishvili made 49 takedown attempts that night, and although Yan fended off 38 of them, he became fatigued and was put on the defensive all night, never mounting an offensive threat.
The rematch played out much differently. Although Dvalishvili (21-5) entered the bout with 117 takedowns in his Octagon career, the most in UFC history, he did not add to his total in the first two rounds, going 0-for-13. The fight’s first takedown came from Yan, who took the champion to the canvas midway through the second round.
In all, Dvalishvili was 2-of-29 on takedown attempts. Yan was 5-of-9, but it was his pinpoint striking that was the biggest difference-maker. He landed 60% of his significant strikes, bloodying Dvalishvili’s face with a steady diet of sharp jabs and visibly hurting him with kicks to the body.
«I’m very, very happy. I worked so hard,» Yan said through a Russian interpreter. «I prepared so hard for this moment. This is my life.»
Although Dvalishvili is best known for his wrestling, he began Saturday’s fight by focusing on his striking, a curious strategy against a proficient boxer such as Yan. Dvalishvili explained afterward that his goal was pleasing the fans, saying, «I tried entertainment fight today. I tried a good fight to give everybody.»
Dvalishvili succeeded at that, but Yan met him in the center of the cage and successfully executed his own plan, returning to the top of the 135-pound division as a two-time champion.
