Petr Yan

Merab Dvalishvili showed new wrinkles to his game and dominated in all areas in a statement performance at UFC Las Vegas, as he won all five rounds against ...

Back up, and Dvalishvili landed a big right hand. In a round that played out mostly on the feet, Merab Dvalishvili was still winning. He piled on with the wrestling early, taking Yan to the fence while Matt Serra hollered from his corner to “knee him again!” Time was now a factor for Petr Yan, who didn’t appear able to break free of the Georgian. Yan was quickly back up, and Dvalishvili was right back on him. Chasing Yan to the other side of the cage, he was back on Yan, who simply could not shake the Georgian, who finally dragged Yan down. Yan would escape and reverse, leaning on Dvalishvili — who used some open palm strikes to bother Yan. Catching a Yan kick, Dvalishvili kicked Yan’s leg out from under him. It was Merab quickly back up and reversing against the fence, however. A pair of leg kicks had Yan backing up, and Merab fired several step-in elbows as Yan covered up. He backed Yan up to the fence, firing an elbow as Yan covered up. The Russian then caught a kick and dumped Dvalishvili on his back with just under two minutes remaining in the second stanza. Yan fired a low kick, but Merab’s own buckled Yan, who then had to fend off another takedown attempt — but landed a blow off the break.

LAS VEGAS — Seconds into his important bantamweight bout with Petr Yan, Merab Dvalishvili gave away his game plan: He pushed a relentless pace, ...

Merab Dvalishvili put on a clinic over five rounds to dominant ex-champion Petr Yan to win a lopsided unanimous decision in the UFC Las Vegas main event.

There was a moment late in the final round where Dvalishvili brought the fight to the ground again and it looked like Yan’s spirit was just broken. “Whenever he decides to go up in weight class to fight for the next challenge, whoever will be there, then after I will fight for the title. Dvalishvili just gave him no time or space to create anything as he kept coming after Yan with a mix of strikes and wrestling. In return, Dvalishvili decided to focus some of his attention on his own calf kicks as well with one particular shot landing with a sickening thud that made Yan immediately switch stances. Dvalishvili was also displaying some crisp boxing early that appeared to catch Yan off guard as the former bantamweight champion tried to find his footing. Dvalishvili mixed in some heavy boxing combinations on the feet and then gave Yan headaches all night long with a relentless wrestling attack that helped him secure the victory.

From bell to bell at UFC Fight Night 221, Merab Dvalishvili smothered Petr Yan, broke the UFC takedown attempt record and won a shutout.

Jared Gooden via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-fight-night-221-las-vegas-petr-yan-merab-dvalishvili-play-by-play-live-results”) JJ Aldrich via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-fight-night-221-las-vegas-petr-yan-merab-dvalishvili-play-by-play-live-results”) [Bruno Silva def. Lukasz Brzeski via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-fight-night-221-las-vegas-petr-yan-merab-dvalishvili-play-by-play-live-results”) [Davey Grant def. Anton Turkalji via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-fight-night-221-las-vegas-petr-yan-merab-dvalishvili-play-by-play-live-results”) [Karl Williams def. Tony Gravely via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-fight-night-221-las-vegas-petr-yan-merab-dvalishvili-play-by-play-live-results”) [Ariane Lipski def. Tyson Nam via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:23](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2023/03/ufc-fight-night-221-video-bruno-silva-vs-tyson-name-kick-finish”) [Carlston Harris def. Said Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/lists/ufc-fight-night-221-las-vegas-petr-yan-merab-dvalishvili-play-by-play-live-results”) [Mario Bautista def. Sedriques Dumas via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 3:00](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2023/03/ufc-fight-night-221-video-josh-fremd-vs-sedriques-dumas-submission”) [Victor Henry def. Guido Cannetti via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:18](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2023/03/ufc-fight-night-221-video-mario-bautista-submission-guido-cannetti-callout-cody-garbrandt”) [Vitor Petrino def. Ryan Spann via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:38](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2023/03/ufc-fight-night-221-results-nikita-krylov-vs-ryan-spann-submission”) [Jonathan Martinez def. Alexandr Romanov via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:16](“https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2023/03/ufc-fight-night-221-results-alexander-volkov-pounds-alexandr-romanov-tko-knockout”) [Nikita Krylov def. [laundry list of qualms](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2023/03/ufc-fight-night-221-video-merab-dvalishvili-blasts-petr-yan-human-angry) he had with Yan – including nationality, gambling debts, threats, and more.

The Georgian bantamweight turned in a historic performance in the victory. He attempted a UFC-record 49 takedowns, shattering the previous record of 33 set by ...

"He is my brother and the world champion," Dvalishvili said of Sterling, who was in his corner on Saturday. He is a close friend and training partner of defending champion He turned every second of the bout into a grinding affair, attacking Yan with leg kicks, jabs, right hands, knees from the clinch and elbows. Dvalishvili, who has a Georgian flag tattooed on his chest due to the UFC's recent restriction of fighters walking to the Octagon with their country's flag, made it a point to speak out against Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine. He attempted a UFC-record 49 takedowns, shattering the previous record of 33 set by former heavyweight champion All three judges scored the 135-pound bout a 50-45 shutout for Dvalishvili, who came in as a 2-1 betting underdog.

Dvalishvili's relentless offense was too much for Yan to deal with over the course of 25 minutes.

"He is my brother and he is the real champion," Dvalishvili said of Sterling during his post-fight interview from The Theater at Virgin Hotels. There is a predicament if Dvalishvili and Sterling continue to excel. Dvalishvili blew past the record for takedowns attempted in a single UFC fight, trying an astounding 49 takedowns and securing 11. Dvalishvili overwhelmed Yan with wrestling and striking to take a one-sided decision over the former UFC bantamweight champion. Dvalishvili (16-4) extended his winning streak to nine and will likely be ranked No. Big moments were few and far between in the fight, but Dvalishvili wobbled Yan with a leg kick in Round 2 and had Yan's eye swollen completely shut by the time the fight wrapped.

UFC Fight Night main event: The main event of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was in the Bantamweight division on Sunday (March 12).

Round 3: A show of great striking from both fighters marked the beginning of the third round. Dvalishvili pressurised Yan with a strong 1-2 and three elbow strikes. A fourth takedown from Dvalishvili but Yan countered with a left elbow strike. Round 1: The first round of this Bantamweight bout started with Dvalishvili going for a takedown attempt and throwing punches at Yan. The fight continued with Dvalishvili attempting a third takedown, followed by a combination of punches. The Georgian went for a second takedown attempt but failed.

Dvalishvili opened the fight by putting pressure on the former UFC bantamweight champion and never took his foot off the gas. In the first two rounds of the ...

In short, Gooden, who was released from the UFC in 2021 after going 1-3, might be one and done during his second run with the promotion. Grant did not end up in a superior position because of the fence grab. Dumas left himself open for counters by overthrowing his strikes and had little to offer his opponent Josh Fremd on the mat. If he had ended up in a controlling position on top of Assuncao, restarting on the feet would have been the correct call. Putting the fighters back in the open and standing rewarded Grant by putting him in a neutral position rather than a defensive spot. The commentary team said Grant was in top position when the fight was paused. I’m not complaining about the earlier start time, but the idea that the UFC is willing to switch things up for a “sport” with Carlston Harris: Carlston Harris struggled a bit in the striking department during the first round of his bout opposite Jared Gooden. Merab Dvalishvili: Someone might look at Merab Dvalishvili’s stats for his UFC Vegas 71 win over Petr Yan and point out the number of significant strikes Dvalishvili did not connect on or the amount of takedowns he failed to secure. The two combined for three submission attempts, three takedowns and 12 significant strikes before Krylov wrapped things up with a triangle choke at 3:38 of the first stanza. The 29-year-old picked up his third straight first-round finish by forcing Cannetti to tap to a rear-naked choke. In the first two rounds of the five-round contest, Dvalishvili attempted 142 significant strikes and 15 takedowns.

When the two finally met in the octagon, Dvalishvili was determined to stand and strike with the fighter most considered to be a superior striker. But in the ...

“I want to be busy and I will fight anybody. This is a good problem to have – to best friends and teammates. I do my old style where I don’t do hot tub, I don’t water load, I just do my thing, and I make weight. I love fighters because they’re all humble and good people, and I don’t think this guy is a very good guy.” “I was just worried that I was going to show up,” Dvalishvili said. “I should just do my thing, and after that thing, it made me a little more calm. “I wanted to show up and not have any accidents happen, and I had extra pressure to represent my country, my people, my team, and we were working so hard. If Sterling moves up to featherweight after a title defense against [Henry Cejudo](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/2186/henry-cejudo) at [UFC 288](https://www.mmafighting.com/fight-card/1374/ufc-288), a conflict could be avoided. “After this, I was like, ‘This guy’s really stupid, and he’s a bully,’” Dvalishvili said. But in the end, it was his wrestling that stymied the ex-champ and led to a shutout on judges’ scorecards. Dvalishvili set a new UFC record for takedown attempts, trying 49 times to put Yan on the mat. “He should not look over others.

Merab The Machine Dvalishvili passed his biggest test with flying colours as he won every round in his main event victory over Petr Yan.

In a shock to very few, the fight between Nikita Krylov and Ryan Spann ended without the need for the judges' scorecards. In this sport the young often eat the old, will the old dog Dominick Cruz pull out a victory? 7 & No. A scrappy whirlwind of a fight ended after Spann followed Krylov to the ground and was immediately caught in a triangle choke by the Ukrainian, which takes his winning streak to three and will keep his ranking in the top 10, but finding his next opponent will not be easy in a top-heavy and confusing light-heavyweight division. That puts Martinez on a five-fight win streak with a record of 18-4 and now the 28-year-old should be expecting to wake up with a number next to his name, much like Bautista finding an opponent for Martinez at bantamweight isn't an issue however finding the right opponent for him is a slightly trickier task. Now is his time to take a step up in his career but the bantamweight division is packed with talented athletes looking for an opportunity, so while finding an opponent is easy finding the right opponent is a different challenge.

See who Petr Yan should fight next after his losing skid was extended by Merab Dvalishvili in the UFC Fight Night 221 headliner.

[UFC Fight Night 221](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/ufc-fight-night-221). [Petr Yan](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/petr-yan) saw his struggles continue on Saturday when he suffered a lopsided loss to Merab Dvalishvili in the [UFC Fight Night 221](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/events/ufc-fight-night-221-march-11) main event. [Sean Shelby’s Shoes: What’s next for Merab Dvalishvili after UFC Fight Night 221 win?](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2023/03/ufc-fight-night-221-matchmaker-merab-dvalishvili-next-fight-winning-streak-petr-yan))

Before the bout against Yan, Dvalishvili met former two-division champion Conor McGregor, at the UFC Performance Institute in Las Vegas, Nevada.

"Aljo was telling me now, 'Call the belt.' Hey man, he's my brother and he's a real champion. The reason behind this is the close friendship between Sterling and Dvalishvili. I met Petr four years ago and he was looking just like a bully," said Dvalishvili. Dvalishvili also drew a contrast between the personality of his most recent opponent Yan and McGregor. He is charismatic and is such a humble [human being]," said Dvalishvili. In the five round match, Dvalishvili won by 50-45,50-45 and 50-45 as he secured a perfect 10 from each of the three judges in all the rounds.