Merab Dvalishvili is not called ‘The Machine’ for nothing.
Less than two weeks after successfully defending his bantamweight title against Cory Sandhagen, Dvalishvili already has his next title defense lined up. On Saturday, December 6, the Georgian will headline UFC 323 as he returns to his 2023 bout against Petr Yan.
It will be Dvalishvili’s fourth fight of 2025 and his fifth in fifteen months.
“Honestly, I just want to be busy,” Dvalishvili said during a performance on The Ariel Helwani Show. “I love fighting, and I do it very, very well when I’m busy. Because when I’m not fighting, there are a lot of distractions: I’m traveling, going everywhere, I’m not focused. But when I’m fighting, I’m very focused. I say no to a lot of things that distract me.
“For example, if friends invite me somewhere, I might go if I don’t have an argument, but if I have an argument I say no, I don’t eat like crazy, I don’t drink – my training comes first.”
Merab Dvalishvili tries to beat Petr Yan
Dvalishvili already has a win over Yan, beating ‘No Mercy’ a few years ago. In the time since, Yan has recorded three straight wins, defeating Song Yadong, Deiveson Figueiredo and, most recently, Marcus McGhee.
‘The Machine’ is entering his fourth title defense of the year, riding a fourteen-fight win streak dating back to September 2018. Will Yan be the man to end Dvalishvili’s reign of terror in the bantamweight division, or will the 135-pound king continue to etch his name in the history books?
Check out the current lineup for UFC 323 below:
UFC 323 PPV main card enabled ESPN+ PPV (10:00 PM ET):
- Merab Dvalishvili(c) vs. Petr Yan – UFC Bantamweight Championship
- Alexandre Pantoja(c) vs. Joshua Van – UFC Flyweight Championship
- Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott
- Jan Błachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov
- Brandon Moreno vs. Tatsuro Taira
UFC 323 Prelims Card on ESPN, ESPN+ (8 p.m.):
- Marvin Vettori vs. Brunno Ferreira
- Grant Dawson vs. Manuel Torres
- Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Antonio Trocoli
- Chris Duncan vs. Terrance McKinney
- Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva
- Nazim Sadychov vs. Rates ziam
Map subject to change.
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