Merab Dvalishvili brought his usual endless supply of takedown attempts to UFC 333 on Saturday night. Unfortunately for the Georgian, Petr Yan brought something he couldn’t wrestle his way out of. Five rounds of punishment.
Yan successfully defended his UFC bantamweight championship with a unanimous decision victory over Dvalishvili, surviving the early wrestling pressure before taking control down the stretch. Dvalishvili piled up takedowns, but keeping Yan on the canvas was a whole different nightmare. As the fight wore on, Yan’s body kicks, sharp counters, and relentless pressure began draining even Dvalishvili’s legendary gas tank.
By the championship rounds, Yan was landing the cleaner shots while Dvalishvili was running out of answers. The Georgian brought the cardio, but Yan brought the damage, and the bantamweight belt wasn’t going anywhere.
Round 1 – Dvalishvili got things started with a leg kick while Yan followed him around the cage with his left hand extended. Dvalishvili rushed forward and landed a couple of shots upstairs before shooting for a single-leg takedown. Yan wasn’t having any of that, quickly defending the attempt and getting himself out of danger.
Yan used a side kick to push Dvalishvili against the fence, but the Georgian wasn’t about to stay there. Dvalishvili landed a shot before circling around and securing a body lock. Yan managed to break free, forcing Dvalishvili to go back to work on the feet.
Dvalishvili continued attacking the legs and body with kicks while looking for opportunities to get the fight to the canvas. He shot for another single leg, but Yan’s takedown defense was giving him all kinds of problems.
With the takedowns going nowhere, Dvalishvili was forced to stand and trade with Yan.
That wasn’t exactly the game plan he had in mind.
Yan remained patient, waiting for his opportunities rather than throwing punches just for the hell of it. He eventually backed Dvalishvili against the fence, but couldn’t land anything significant before the Georgian escaped.
Yan’s takedown defense was on another level early, forcing Dvalishvili to abandon shots much quicker than usual. Dvalishvili kept looking for openings, but Yan was making him work for every damn inch.
Yan eventually cracked Dvalishvili with a beautiful straight left that brought the crowd to life.
Dvalishvili answered by shooting for another takedown and finally managed to put Yan on the canvas.
Unfortunately for Dvalishvili, getting Yan down was only half the damn battle.
The champion quickly scrambled back to his feet, reversed the position, and pushed Dvalishvili against the fence before breaking away.
Dvalishvili wasn’t about to give up on the wrestling, though.
He charged forward with another wild single-leg attempt and once again managed to drag Yan to the canvas. Keeping him there, however, was proving to be a whole different nightmare.
Dvalishvili managed to land a couple of shots to the head before the horn brought the opening round to an end.
Round 2 – Yan came out pressing forward once again, but this time he wasn’t interested in waiting around to get his offense going. He started putting together sharp one-two combinations, forcing Dvalishvili to answer with heavy shots of his own.
Yan eventually loaded up on a massive right hand, looking to send Dvalishvili’s head into the cheap seats.
Unfortunately for Yan, Dvalishvili saw an opportunity and immediately put him on the canvas.
Yan scrambled back to his feet and broke free, but Dvalishvili wasn’t about to give him much breathing room. The Georgian shot in again and dragged Yan right back down.
This time, however, Yan reversed the position and took Dvalishvili’s back while standing, landing shots in the process.
The two eventually separated, and Yan went right back to cracking Dvalishvili with punches upstairs. Dvalishvili answered by grabbing hold of Yan and looking for another takedown.
At this point, Dvalishvili’s game plan was pretty damn obvious.
Takedowns, takedowns, and when those weren’t enough, how about another damn takedown?
Dvalishvili managed to put Yan on the canvas again, but the champion quickly worked his way back to his feet. Dvalishvili greeted him with a leg kick before continuing his relentless pressure.
The Georgian’s pace was stuck in high gear, and apparently nobody had bothered installing the brakes.
Dvalishvili continued trading strikes with Yan while constantly looking for opportunities to change levels and shoot. Yan connected with a clean left hand, but Dvalishvili barely seemed to notice.
Instead, he charged forward and scored yet another takedown.
And just like the previous attempts, Yan wasted little time getting himself back to his feet.
Dvalishvili was piling up takedowns, but he wasn’t exactly doing much damage once he got Yan to the canvas.
That raised an interesting question as the fight continued.
How much were the judges going to reward Dvalishvili’s takedowns when Yan kept getting up without taking much punishment?
Dvalishvili was certainly winning the wrestling numbers game, but whether that translated into winning the round was another conversation entirely.
Round 3 – Yan came out pressing forward once again, but actually letting his hands go was proving to be a different story. With Dvalishvili constantly threatening takedowns, the champion appeared hesitant to open up and risk getting dragged to the canvas.
Dvalishvili eventually drove Yan against the fence, and the two went right back to their favorite activity.
The good old fashioned fence dance.
Yan managed to break free, but not before eating a knee to the body for his trouble.
The champion continued struggling to put together any meaningful offense, allowing Dvalishvili to find success with his own strikes.
Every time Yan looked to get something going, Dvalishvili was right there threatening another damn takedown.
Dvalishvili would shoot, Yan would defend, and the whole process would start all over again.
Yan’s takedown defense was impressive, but it was coming at the expense of his striking offense. He simply wasn’t finding the same opportunities to punish Dvalishvili that he had in their second fight.
Yan eventually started finding a home for some heavy shots, but Dvalishvili apparently hadn’t discovered the concept of slowing down.
The Georgian continued pressing forward, throwing strikes and shooting for takedowns like his gas tank had an unlimited warranty.
Yan finally connected with a nasty body kick that appeared to hurt Dvalishvili, forcing him to circle away.
For a moment, it looked like Yan had finally found something that might slow the Georgian down.
Unfortunately for Yan, that moment didn’t last very damn long.
Dvalishvili recovered, came right back into range, and started landing shots of his own.
Even when Yan managed to hurt him, Dvalishvili refused to give the champion a second to breathe.
Round 4 – Dvalishvili wasted absolutely no time shooting for another takedown, but Yan stuffed it without much trouble.
Yan started letting his hands go, landing heavy shots that appeared to be taking a toll on Dvalishvili’s gas tank. The Georgian was finally showing signs of slowing down, and his movement wasn’t nearly as sharp as earlier in the fight.
Dvalishvili managed to land a head kick and a jab, but Yan wasn’t interested in giving up any ground.
The champion continued marching forward, looking to make Dvalishvili pay for every exchange.
Dvalishvili shot for another takedown, but Yan shut that down too.
At this point, Dvalishvili’s gas tank was starting to look like it needed a trip to the nearest gas station.
Yan smelled blood and started coming forward with some serious bad intentions.
He unloaded heavy shots upstairs while mixing in nasty punches to the body, forcing Dvalishvili to deal with constant pressure.
For the first time in the fight, Yan’s offense was really starting to take over.
The champion was timing his counters beautifully, making Dvalishvili miss and forcing him to reset before getting anything going.
Yan eventually connected with a clean head kick, but Dvalishvili answered with a body kick of his own.
Yan wasn’t about to let that go unanswered.
He fired back with a massive right hand, continuing to put the pressure on a visibly exhausted Dvalishvili.
Late in the round, Yan went right back to the body with another nasty kick.
It landed in the same spot where he had hurt Dvalishvili earlier, giving the Georgian another reminder of that damage.
Yan was finally finding his rhythm, and Dvalishvili was discovering that even his ridiculous cardio had its limits.
Round 5 – Yan came out looking to put an exclamation point on the fight, immediately letting his hands go upstairs.
Dvalishvili caught him with a clean right hand, but Yan answered with a nasty left hook of his own.
Yan even decided to try his luck with a takedown, but quickly abandoned the attempt before firing a kick upstairs.
Meanwhile, Dvalishvili’s legendary gas tank was finally starting to run on fumes.
The Georgian continued shooting for takedowns, but the explosiveness that made him so dangerous earlier was nowhere to be found.
Yan kept attacking the body with kicks, although Dvalishvili wasn’t reacting to them quite like he had earlier.
The champion clearly had one target in mind.
That poor liver.
Yan continued digging shots into Dvalishvili’s body, and the Georgian wasn’t doing much to get out of the way.
Yan even mixed in a jumping knee that connected, although Dvalishvili managed to shake it off without much trouble.
Unfortunately for Dvalishvili, Yan wasn’t finished handing out punishment.
The champion unloaded a nasty combination that appeared to take even more energy out of an already exhausted Dvalishvili.
At this point, Yan was throwing everything at him.
Knees to the body, punches upstairs, kicks downstairs, and enough pressure to make a lesser fighter start questioning his career choices.
Dvalishvili was being forced to dig deep and find whatever he had left in the tank.
The problem was that every time Yan turned up the offense, Dvalishvili seemed to have even less to offer.
Yan was finding his rhythm at exactly the right time, while Dvalishvili was struggling just to keep up.
With ten seconds remaining, Dvalishvili summoned whatever energy he had left and charged forward for one final exchange.
Yan greeted him with another shot to the body before the final horn brought the fight to an end.
Dvalishvili brought his trademark relentless pace, but Yan spent the championship rounds making him pay for every second of it.
Petr Yan remained the UFC bantamweight champion and his reign over the bantamweight division continued.
Official Result: Petr Yan def. Merab Dvalishvili via Unanimous Decision (48-47×3)