The highlight of the evening for me was the card’s scheduled main event, which saw reigning, defending undisputed bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili attempt to make four historic title defenses in a calendar year against former champion Petr “No Mercy” Yan. Petr Yan had no ordinary opponent; Merab is considered by many to be the division’s greatest fighter. Merab also proved in the first fight that he could beat Petr Yan and did so in dominant style, winning all five rounds.
From a competitor’s point of view, rematches are treated like any other fight, but if the first fight was as one-sided as Petr Yan and Merab’s, the outcome rarely changes. This fight was completely different. Petr Yan not only won, but he won convincingly, hurting Merab multiple times and exploiting a weakness Merab has: vulnerability to body shots. Many hardcore fans in the MMA community have speculated that Merab may be weak on the body since the first Sean O’Malley fight. The “Machine” was truly broken during this fight, with the script running completely on a perfectly executed fighting strategy.
Since the rematch between Petr and Merab, many fans have come to regard this fight as one of the greatest comeback wins of all time. Petr hasn’t been a champion since 2021, and after those four years, Merab emerged as one of the most dominant champions in recent history, winning fourteen straight fights and racking up four title victories. This win by Petr Yan is reminiscent of Dominick Cruz’s performance against TJ Dillashaw to regain the bantamweight title in 2016. The victory alone set the legacy and puts Petr Yan in the upper echelon of the bantamweight division’s greatest fighters.
To emphasize how impressive this win against Merab Dvalishvili was, we should look at the fact that Merab hasn’t been defeated in a fight in eight years, which was a fight against Frankie Saenz on the Swanson vs Ortega fight night card (UFC, nd). Furthermore, none of his previous opponents have surpassed him either (UFC, nd). In both facets of MMA, Petr Yan was able to demonstrate his superior fighting IQ by adapting from the first fight, and this led many to believe that Yan vs. Dvalishvili 2 was a vintage performance. Yan seemingly turned back the clock during the fight by controlling the center of the octagon, carefully measuring the range with his long guard boxing stance, then occasionally switching to a high guard defense and brilliantly displaying bodyweight transfer to outdo Merab in the wrestling sequences (UFC, n.d.).
From 2023 to date, Petr Yan has won four fights without losing a single fight, looking most impressive against a highly regarded contemporary rival in Merab Dvalishvili (UFC, n.d.). This gives hope that Petr Yan has reached his physical peak at the age of 32 and could very well reign as champion for some time, further cementing an already great legacy.
References
UFC. (n.d.). Merab Dvalishvili statistics. Retrieved from. http://ufcstats.com/fighter-details/c03520b5c88ed6b4
UFC. (n.d.). Petr Yan statistics. Retrieved from. http://ufcstats.com/fighter-details/d661ce4da776fc20
Bleacher Report. (2025, December 7). Merab Dvalishvili, Petr Yan’s next best fights after UFC 323 results. Image retrieved from Merab Dvalishvili, Petr Yan’s next best fights after UFC 323 results
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