Petr Yan’s injury claims have angered Merab Dvalishvili’s coach.
Yan will challenge Dvalishvili for the UFC bantamweight championship on December 6. The title fight will headline UFC 323 in Las Vegas. This will be a rematch, as “The Machine” defeated “No Mercy” in 2021.
Dvalishvili’s coach John Wood recently spoke with MMAfighting and he criticized Yan for making “excuses” for injuries.
“I’ll tell you this when Merab fought Petr Yan, we had some nasty injuries,” Wood said. “His hand was the size of a football when he went in there. He could barely get his hand in the glove. He had a completely broken hand in that fight. Going in. Never heard a word about it. You’ll never hear a word about those things and he still did what he did.”
“Everyone’s going to say what they need to say to feel better and that’s OK, that’s part of the game. The whole injury thing – saying you can beat another guy, no problem, I’m good at that. But I lost because of injury, it’s a bit weird.”
Dvalishvili has done well in 2025 and he will chase history at UFC 323. If he can beat Yan in December, he will set a record for most successful UFC title defenses in a single year.
Yan, a former UFC bantamweight champion, hopes to regain the gold to close out his 2025. Yan is on a three-fight winning streak, defeating Marcus McGhee, former UFC flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo and Song Yadong.
UFC 323 will also feature a UFC Flyweight Championship bout. Title holder Alexandre Pantoja will put his gold on the line against Joshua Van.
Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo will also be on the card, sharing the Octagon with Payton Talbott. Ex-UFC flyweight titleholder Brandon Moreno will also be in action, taking on Tatsuro Taira.
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