Petr Yan started slow but then completely took over the fight to settle his trilogy with Merab Dvalishvili in the UFC 333 co-main event.
Following some early success from Dvalishvili in the opening two rounds, Yan took over with superior striking and unreal takedown defense to shut down his opponent’s wrestling. Yan picked his shots, landing some nasty body work along the way and he just proved he was the better fighter across five rounds.
At the conclusion, all three judges gave the fight to Yan with identical 48-47 scores as he retains his title and puts Dvalishvili in his rear-view mirror.
“I was listening to my coach, he said it was two-two, you win the fifth round, you win the fight,” Yan said afterwards.
“I feel all of your support. Listen to me. I do not pick fights. Give me Song Yadong, give me King Kong, give me anybody, just make weight and I’ll take you down.”
For his part, Dvalishvili offered up no excuses for his loss and offered his congratulations to Yan on a job well done.
“I can do better,” Dvalishvili said. “Congratulations to Petr Yan .. he beat me today, he’s the better man. Congratulations to him.”
A strong leg kick and a stiff right hand opened the fight for Dvalishvili before he attacked wih a single-leg takedown, although Yan resisted. Dvalishvili kept moving forward looking for takedowns but Yan thwarted him at every turn.
Dvalishvili finally got his first takedown but Yan broke free and got back to his feet almost instantly. Undeterred, Dvalishvili snatched another takedown as he tried to gain control over the bantamweight champion.
Yan showed more confidence in his striking to start round two but Dvalishvili was quick to blitz with his wrestling again. The takedown attempts were relentless and Yan was stuck playing defense, attempting to get back to his feet.
The pressure from Dvalishvili was relentless but Yan did his best to counter and land strikes.
But Dvalishvili was like a pitbull as he kept moving forward, employing his wrestling and then resetting again on the feet if he didn’t get the fight to the ground. Yan just couldn’t find a rhythm with Dvalishvili changing forward, grabbing takedowns and staying on the offensive.
Yan finally connected with a nasty left hook but Dvalishvili ate it well and came back with a combiniation of his own. Another stunning left hand followed but Dvlisivili refused to back down.
Yan blasted Dvalishvili with another hard shot and a nasty body kick and it looked like he might have an opportunity to deliver a finish but the challenger kept bouncing and staying away from any further damage.
As Yan shrugged off more of the takedowns, he was starting to land some really solid shots on Dvalishvili, who appeared to slow down slightly by the fourth round. Yan was putting together really strong combinations, digging to the body with several punches.
Yan was also moving forward and pushing Dvalishvili backwards while picking and choosing his moments to unleash strikes.
In the final round, Dvalishvili kept his frantic pace but Yan was patient to play defense and fire back with more shots on the feet. Dvalishvili attempted over 50 takedowns but landed only a few with Yan trying to punish him each and every time.
Yan found a home for a pair of left hands while still attempting to hurt Dvalishvili to the body. Dvalishvili came back at him with a few strong right hands as the exchanges continued.
With time running out, Yan snapped off another combination of punches followed by a nasty body kick to solidify his reign as champion.
Yan now awaits his next challenge, which could potentially come from Song Yadong or old foe Sean O’Malley but he can put Dvalishvli behind him for now after two straight wins over the former champion.