The UFC once again has a new Bantamweight king after Petr Yan put on a clinic during his unanimous victory over Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323 on Saturday night.
While the T-Mobile area hosted exciting fights this weekend, namely Tatsuro Taira’s knockout win over Brandon Morena and Joshua Van’s first-round knockout over Alexandre Pantjoja, it was Yan who ultimately grabbed the headlines.
Dvalishvili got the better of Yan during their first fight that took place on 11 March 2023, as the former champion recorded a unanimous victory across five hard rounds.
This time around, Yan was the clear aggressor and kept moving forward from the first bell. The newly crowned UFC Bantamweight champion made it his aim to hurt Dvalishvili via blows to the body early on, which ultimately slowed the Georgian down in the latter stages of the fight.
Yan’s unanimous decision win was supplemented by sniper-like jabs from his lead hand between rounds as Dvalishvili stood battered with cuts and bruises.
“I’m very happy to stand here with the championship belt,” Yan said after the fight.
“Thank you so much to all the fans. I’m very, very happy. I worked so hard. I prepared so hard for this moment. This is my life.
“I want to give props to that team. That’s an incredibly hard, strong team. Thank you so much, Dana [White]. UFC changed my life.”
Reflecting on his defeat, the outgoing champion expressed his desire for a trilogy bout in the future.
“I tried to give an entertaining fight and I lost today,” Dvalishvili said, who missed out on a fourth title defence this year.
“He was better. Congratulations to him, but I want a rematch, I want to run it back.”
UFC 323 MAIN CARD RESULTS
Petr Yan defeats Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
Joshua Van defeats Alexandre Pantoja by TKO, Round 1, :26
Tatsuro Taira defeats Brandon Moreno by TKO, Round 2, 2:24
Payton Talbott (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) defeats Henry Cejudo by Unanimous Decision
Jan Błachowicz and Bogdan Guskov fought to a majority draw (29-28, 28-28, 28-28)