A well-deserved Fight of the Night bonus was awarded to Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan 2 in the aftermath of UFC 323 on Saturday.
The rematch, the final main event of the UFC’s numbered events on ESPN, was a thriller, with Petr Yan appearing in the best form of his career. Heading into the evening of his career series with Dvalishvili, who was trying to defend his 135-pound title for the fourth time in a calendar year, Russian Yan showed excellent takedown defense and even scored a few takedowns of his own. Plus, he had the advantage of hitting, rocking and bloodying Dvalishvili early in the fight.
True to form, Dvalishvili’s cardio never faded, but he soon found himself in an unfamiliar position: fighting from behind. And he could never close the gap, losing a unanimous decision with the closest score being a 48-47. However, the remaining two judges scored the fight 49-46.
The win for Yan sets up a trilogy fight, which could be a smart move for the UFC considering how good Saturday’s headliner was.
The Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC 323 went to Iwo Baraniewski, who found himself in a one-round, actually 89-second fight with Ibo Aslan, and Manuel Torres. Torres dismissed Grant Dawson in the preliminary round of the evening.
All four bonus winners will take home the usual $50,000 for their efforts (and that number will increase in the new year).
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