UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will defend his title against Petr Yan in the main event of UFC 323 later tonight.
It will serve as a rematch of their encounter a few years ago, and on that occasion it was Merab Dvalishvili who gained the upper hand over Yan. The Russian star claims he was injured during that fight, but was still able to complete the Georgian sensation’s takedowns with real precision. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough, and it was still a fairly lopsided decision loss for Petr.
This time, however, there is something that people may not have taken into account as much as they should have: Merab Dvalishvili’s activity. He’s already gone 3-0 this year and after beating Cory Sandhagen he made it crystal clear that he wanted another quick turnaround for another title fight before the end of 2025.
Of course, one more fight means another weight cut for Merab Dvalishvili. Are to trust is currently at an all-time high and it feels like nothing is going to slow him down, but when you combine that much weight cutting in one calendar year with the potential of him overlooking a talented fighter in Petr Yan, could he be in trouble?
The great Merab Dvalishvili
Yan has great strikeouts, can defend takedowns and he will have learned a lot from his first outing against ‘The Machine’. While we’re not necessarily suggesting he’s definitely going to win, we do think it will be a lot closer than people think, especially since Merab tends to get hit more often than people realize.
The smart money is still on Dvalishvili and we’re not pretending, but keep an eye on how this fight plays out over the first five to ten minutes, especially if Yan can hold his own and start faster than usual.
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