Petr Yan knows where he stands in his rivalry with Merab Dvalishvili.
After pulling off one of the best performances of 2025, Yan has to do it all over again when he meets Dvalishvili for a third time this Saturday in Abu Dhabi for UFC 333’s co-main event. Yan's rematch with “The Machine" in December was a complete reversal from their first encounter, a dominant decision win for Dvalishvili in March 2023. Yan had a broken hand for that first bout, but came into last year’s rematch healthy and ultimately thwarted Dvalishvili's typically smothering game, scoring a lopsided decision win of his own to become a two-time UFC bantamweight champion.
The big question ahead of this week’s trilogy, however, is whether Dvalishvili was too active during his title reign; Dvalishvili rattled off four title fights in 2025, capped by the Yan loss. Since 10 months since their rematch, Yan admitted on Monday's edition of "The Ariel Helwani Show" that he would’ve liked to fight sooner, but surgery to repair discs in his lower back kept him out of action. Ultimately, the champion isn't annoyed by any narrative questioning how prepared Dvalishvili was for their previous encounter.
"It doesn't annoy me at all," Yan told Uncrowned through an interpreter. "If he wants to use it as an excuse or his fans want to use it as an excuse, soon we're going to find out. We have a date, less than a week, so we're going to find out who is a better man."
Recently, Dvalishvili drummed up some pre-fight banter when he called Yan a "rude person" who needs to be humbled.
In response, Yan says he was just speaking the truth about their rematch, and that Dvalishvili is only outing himself as the one who was already humbled in defeat.
"I wasn't rude. I was being real, and when I was asked a question and he started to make things up, I just told him to shut up. That's about it. I wasn't rude at all," Yan said.
"Most important is he himself knows that I humbled him."
Yan's 2023 loss to Dvalishvili marked the final setback of a stunning three-fight skid for the Russian. Yan rallied impressively afterward, stringing together three dominant wins to earn another crack at the title he once held.
As mentioned, Yan's broken hand has been a talking point throughout his rivalry with Dvalishvili. If their December rematch was any indication, Yan’s injury was a major factor in their first bout, along with the many adjustments Yan made between fights.
"The biggest difference between fights was that I could punch him, and he himself, in his interviews, admitted he was broken in the second round. So, you can state it for a fact that I made him humble," Yan said.
"In general, we have a lot of information about each other. We know what to expect from each other after fighting two times. I know what to expect from him this time, and I know how to counter it and believe I can make him fight the way I want: Control where the fight goes and defeat him again."
Their trilogy bout will be the first fight of the year for both Yan and Dvalishvili.