Does the bantamweight division need Petr Yan to win at UFC 333?
UFC 333 sees the rubber match between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili and the UFC might be hoping the Russian wins in Abu Dhabi.
Petr Yan takes on Merab Dvalishvili in the UFC 333 co-main event. The fight marks a trilogy between the two men who have gone to war across 10 rounds in recent years.
The first fight saw Merab dominate Yan, take him down on 11 occasions and attempt to ground Yan 49 times. It was relentless and effective. The Georgian would go on to win the belt and make three defences of the strap before running into Yan again at UFC 323.
On their second meeting, few gave Yan a chance. The champion was dominant and had already beaten Yan with relative ease. What played out saw Yan show vast improvements in his takedown defence, only giving up two of 29 takedowns and taking down Merab on five occasions.
He battered the champion, broke his nose and came away with the title. Logically, the trilogy had to happen, and at UFC 333 it goes down. Interestingly, the UFC bantamweight division may need Petr Yan to win to carry on moving in the right direction.
UFC Bantamweight Division Picture
The dominance that Merab Dvalishvili showed during his title run all but cleared out the division. He beat Sean O’Malley to win the belt, beat Umar Nurmagomedov in his first defence, beat O’Malley again and then dominated Cory Sandhagen. He was forced into yet another rematch with Yan, where he would go on to lose the belt.
For Yan, he lost to Merab in their first bout but rebounded to beat Song Yadong, Deiveson Figueiredo and Marcus McGhee on his way to a second crack at the Georgian wrestler. A win for Yan opens up the division far more than it does if Dvalishvili were to get his hand raised in Abu Dhabi.
Contenders
The next contender (after UFC 333) for the belt should be Song Yadong. The Chinese fighter submitted Figueiredo before becoming the first man in history to finish Umar Nurmagomedov. He’s young, marketable, exciting and deserving of a shot at gold. For Yadong, if he was to face Yan, there’s the storyline of it being a rematch after a very close fight from 2024. Both men have improved since that fight, and it’s a sellable match-up for sure. If Merab wins at UFC 333, it’s a fresh match-up for fans to sink their teeth into and a fight which would provide plenty of questions for both men.
Sean O’Malley is also in the running to get a shot at the winner of the belt. He’s easily the most marketable name in the bantamweight division and the biggest star that the division has seen in several years. ‘Suga’ has a win over Song Yadong and a statement victory over Aiemann Zahabi on the White House lawn, proving just how big a star he is. He will be hoping that Yan gets the victory, as he already has a win over the Russian across three rounds in 2022. The fight was extremely close and he can certainly make his claim for a rematch, this time with the belt on the line.
If Merab wins, it’s a harder sell for O’Malley as he has two losses to the Georgian, both of which have come in a dominant fashion.
Mario Bautista is 10-1 in his last 11 UFC fights, with his only loss coming to Nurmagomedov. The American is on a two-fight winning run with a main event win over Vinicius Oliveira and a decision win over Sandhagen last time out. The feeling is that he needs at least one more win to be considered for a title shot.
Why the UFC needs a Yan win at UFC 333
The UFC wants its biggest stars to be holding the belts. O’Malley is the biggest star at 135lbs and a Yan win at UFC 333 opens up a huge rematch between the American and the Russian. If Merab wins, the trilogy between him and O’Malley is a hard sell when ‘Suga’ is 0-2 in that rivalry.
If Yan wins, O’Malley will be the favourite for a title shot next. If Merab wins, it opens the door to other contenders, possibly Song Yadong.
Deep down, Dana White and the UFC brass will be hoping for a Yan win in order to set up the rematch between him and O’Malley. All eyes will be on UFC 333 this weekend.
