Merab Dvalishvili Reveals Why his Corner Left him Confused Against Petr Yan at UFC 323
Merab Dvalishvili has explained where his corner went wrong at UFC 323, when he lost his title to Petr Yan.
Merab Dvalishvili has opened up about what his corner got wrong during his UFC 323 title loss to Petr Yan. Last year, after three successful title defenses, "The Machine" was looking to become the first champion in the history of the promotion to record four defenses in just 12 months and ran in back with Yan in December.
Although Sean Oā€™Malley, Cory Sandhagen, and Umar Nurmagomedov had a hard time countering Dvalishvili's relentless pressure, Yan found a way to excel in every department at UFC 323. The Russian fighter scored five out of nine takedowns while Dvalishvili managed to take down Yan just 2/29 times.
Yan also outlanded Dvalishvili in significant strikes, broke his nose, and repeatedly targeted his body with hard kicks and combinations. In the midst of the chaos, Dvalishviliā€™s corner gave him one piece of advice that confused the Georgian even more.
Merab Dvalishvili Says Corner Confused Him at UFC 323
Merab Dvalishvili, in a recent clip, said his corner told him to attack Petr Yanā€™s body at UFC 323. However, the 35-year-old hadn't worked on the same during training camp, which left him even more confused inside the octagon. About that, he said:
"In my last fight, my corner was telling me something completely different. They were telling me to attack the body, but we hadnā€™t worked on that at all. That confused me even more. That's why I am confident in myself now. I'll do everything the way the fight requires and do what it takes to win."
Check out Merab Dvalishvili's comments below:
Merab Dvalishvili Has a New Coach to Help him Dethrone Petr Yan
Merab Dvalishvili will face current and two-time bantamweight holder Petr Yan for a third time, this weekend at UFC 333. To get the belt back by not repeating the previous mistakes, Dvalishvili has hired a new wrestling coach named Jessie. In the same video posted above, he said:
"I have added a few final details that I think will be crucial in the fight against Yan. I wonā€™t make the same mistakes I made last time. Iā€™m confident that the things Iā€™ve been working on during training camp will work against Yan. There are some good details that I canā€™t really reveal to you. As for this training camp, Iā€™ve added a new coach, Jessie, who's genuinely a great MMA coach."
