Former bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili had a 14-fight winning streak snapped in his last outing, losing to Petr Yan in a rematch last December.
The two first fought in March 2023. Dvalishvili picked up a unanimous decision win the night in Las Vegas. Yan avenged the loss at UFC 323 defeating Dvalishvili by unanimous decision. On Oct. 24, in Abu Dhabi, the two will meet in a trilogy match in the UFC 333 co-main event.
“He’s the most dangerous guy in my weight class, especially at this moment and I know I have a very tough opponent in front of me. I know I will have a hard fight again but this time I will make sure I’m going to win,” Dvalishvili told UFC on Paramount+.
“First time I was fighting him I was nervous to be honest because he’s from Russia and I’m from Georgia and I take too much responsibility like as a Georgian because Russia has occupied my country which is a big territory. I take it more personal fight for me. First time, I was nervous,” said the former champion. “Last time, I still tried my best. I don’t want to say I was relaxed, but I don’t think maybe I was fighting my fight.”
The two have spent 50 minutes inside the octagon together. They’ve prepared for each other three times but Dvalishvili plans to show something we haven’t seen.
“His style is a hard style. It’s hard to take him down. He stops your takedown. It’s hard to strike with him because he has good, good boxing, good kicking and good cardio. But I have some tools that I haven’t showed so I think I’m going to show this time,” he said.
Dvalishvili recognizes the magnitude of the match and knows the impact it will have on his legacy. A win would make him a two-time titleholder with five title fight wins. I’d be difficult not to consider him the greatest bantamweight champion in the promotion’s history.
“This fight will be super important (for my legacy) if I win, especially because … I don’t think too much about who’s the greatest, all the records and stuff like this. But the fact is, Petr Yan is the most dangerous guy in my weight class, and to beat him two times, I will sleep very peacefully,” he said.