Dvalishvili Reveals Key Error From Yan Title Loss

Merab Dvalishvili pinned his UFC 323 title loss on a tactical misstep he will not repeat when he faces Petr Yan for a third time.

The former bantamweight champion told MMA Fighting's José Youngs that he abandoned his wrestling base in the rematch and traded punches with Yan instead, a strategy that backfired badly. "I think the second fight I was fighting his fight," Dvalishvili said. "I was in front of him and then exchanged the boxing, but this time I will just be myself."

Dvalishvili controlled their 2023 bout with relentless takedowns and won a decision. Yan reversed the script at UFC 323, landing the cleaner strikes and reclaiming the title in a performance that stopped Dvalishvili's run at four defenses in one calendar year. The trilogy bout is set for the co-main event of UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 24, per MMA Fighting.

Yan underwent back surgery after the rematch, which delayed the announcement. During the wait, the division shuffled — Song Yadong knocked out Umar Nurmagomedov and Mario Bautista climbed past Cory Sandhagen. Dvalishvili said he is eager to test Song's power next. "He hits like a truck and I want to test that," he said.

Dvalishvili also lobbied for his friend Aljamain Sterling to get a featherweight title eliminator against Jean Silva. Sterling is 3-1 since moving up and has targeted a shot at the winner of Alexander Volkanovski and Movsar Evloev, who meet in the UFC 333 main event.