Merab Dvalishvili Reveals When He Knew Petr Yan Had His Number at UFC 323

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Merab Dvalishvili and Petr Yan at UFC 323
Photo Credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect | Source: Lastwordonsports.com - Kshitiz Kumar Singh

In less than 10 days, Petr Yan will defend his bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333. The co-main event on October 24 in Abu Dhabi will mark the third time the two fighters meet inside the Octagon.

The pair have split their first two fights, with Dvalishvili dominating Yan in their first meeting in March 2023. However, Yan turned things around in their title rematch at UFC 323 last December, shutting down the Georgian’s wrestling and doing serious damage on the feet.

Yan became a two-time champion in the process while snapping Dvalishvili’s 14-fight winning streak. Now, just days before their trilogy fight, Dvalishvili has made a candid admission about what went wrong in their second encounter.

Merab Dvalishvili Admits Failed Takedowns in Round 2 Changed Everything Against Petr Yan

Heading into UFC 323, many expected Dvalishvili to come out on top, especially after his one-sided victory in their first meeting. The Georgian was also riding one of the most dominant title runs in recent UFC history, having defended his belt four times in 2025.

Dvalishvili won the title against Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 before defending it against Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311, O’Malley at UFC 316, and Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320.

However, his incredible run came to an end against Yan. And it seems Dvalishvili realized things weren’t going his way much earlier in the fight. During a recent interview with UFC on Paramount+, “The Machine” admitted that he knew he was in trouble when he failed to take Yan down in the second round.

Dvalishvili explained that he entered the round determined to get Yan to the mat. But after putting so much energy into his takedown attempts without success, he realized he needed to change his approach.

He said, “In ten seconds, all my energy came out, and then I’m like, ‘What now? I don’t think I can take him down, I’m going to have [to] just fight.’ Then I was just fighting.”

 

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The former 135-pound champion added, “I was striking with him, he got me, and then second round, I tried to take him down, and I wasn’t able to, and I’m like, ‘What should I do now?’ Then I was just having fun, and I’m gonna enjoy the fight. I realized in the second fight, I was not going to win this fight, and I was just going to enjoy the fight.”

For context, Yan stuffed 27 of Dvalishvili’s 29 takedown attempts that night. That proved to be a major turning point, as wrestling had been the key to the Georgian’s success in his previous fights. Once Yan consistently shut down that part of his game, Dvalishvili struggled to find another way to take control.

Now, with their trilogy fight just around the corner, it will be interesting to see whether Dvalishvili can make the necessary adjustments or if Yan will once again have the answer to his wrestling.