Merab Dvalishvili Drops Cautious Approach Ahead of Petr Yan Matchup
Merab Dvalishvili remains cautious ahead of his UFC 333 trilogy fight against Petr Yan, with the bantamweight title on the line.
Merab Dvalishvili is preparing for his next bantamweight championship trilogy bout. He will be facing Russian stalwart Petr Yan in UFC 333 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The fight is set to unfold on Oct. 24.
The 35-year-old Georgian fighter has stepped inside the octagon to fight against Petr Yan twice before. On March 12, 2023, Dvalishvili faced Yan in UFC Fight Night and secured a win via decision after the fifth round. Following that, the fighters came face-to-face in the main event of UFC 323 in December 2025.
This time Yan grabbed the victory in the rematch by unanimous decision, recapturing the UFC Bantamweight Championship.
“I have one of the toughest fights, and usually when I have a tough opponent, when I know it's a tough fight, I perform very well,” said Merab Dvalishvili.
Reflecting on how he is gearing up for the fight, Dvalishvili added, “I work very hard, but now I'm also trying to be smart. For my last fight, I was working a lot but not taking breaks. I was just training and burning myself out.”
While Dvalishvili is known for his cardio and pace and elite wrestling, his opponent’s main strength lies in strong counterpunching and a complete grappling-defense game. Acknowledging the strengths of his rival, ‘the Machine’ stated, “Petr Yan will never be an easy fight for me. I knew that, but the fact of how good he is and how hard he hits surprised even me. If I don't really, really prepare well, he'll crush me again.”
Petr Yan Reflects on Previous Fight With Merab Dvalishvilli Before UFC 333
On one hand, Merab Dvalishvili has already acknowledged how cautious he is about his next fight against Petr Yan. However, on the other hand, Yan has talked about his disappointing performance against ‘the Machine’ in UFC Fight Night. The fight turned out to be a one-sided fight as Dvalishvili dominated in all five rounds.
“In the first fight, I landed 4 punches with my right hand. I couldn't push him back, control him, and wrestle him,” said Yan while talking about his loss to Dvalishvili in their first meeting in 2023.
‘No Mercy’ however managed to reclaim his title in their rematch by pulling off a strong display of grappling and striking. With a record of 20-5, the 33-year-old fighter will be facing Dvalishvili again, who stands with a record of 21-5.
