Merab
Dvalishvili says he realized early in his rematch against
Petr
Yan that he was going to lose.
Dvalishvili (21-5) defeated Yan (20-5) in their first meeting in
2023 and won the
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title in September
2024. The Georgian was a heavy favorite when he defended his belt
in their rematch at
UFC 323 last December.
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However, Yan thwarted Dvalishvili’s takedown attempts and outstruck
him to earn a unanimous decision. Ahead of their trilogy bout, “The
Machine” has revisited the rematch, saying he knew as early as the
second round that he wasn’t going to win.
Merab Dvalishvili explains how Petr Yan’s takedown defense
changed their UFC 323 rematch ahead of UFC 333 trilogy
Yan is scheduled to defend his title against Dvalishvili at
UFC 333 on Oct. 24 at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The challenger
said a failed takedown in the second round left him doubting his
chances of winning their previous encounter.
Once he realized he couldn’t impose his grappling on Yan,
Dvalishvili said, he focused on enjoying the fight.
“In the second round, I came back planning to take him down,”
Dvalishvili said in an interview with Paramount+. “I shot and I
really tried and he again defended my takedown. In 10 seconds, all
my energy came out. And then I was like, ‘What now? I don’t think I
can take him down and I’m gonna have a good fight.’ And then I was
just fighting… I was striking with him; he got me. And then, second
round, I tried to take him down; I wasn’t able to. I was like,
‘F*ck no, what should I do now?’ And then I was just having fun. I
said, ‘I’m gonna have fun and I’m gonna enjoy the fight.’ I
realized in the second fight that I was not going to win the fight
and I was just going to enjoy the fight.”