Peter the Great: how Yang regained the UFC title
Peter Yan defeated Georgian Merab Dvalishvili in the main match of the UFC 323 tournament in Las Vegas. The 32-year-old Russian won by unanimous decision and became the UFC bantamweight champion. Yang took a confident rematch from Dvalishvili, extending his winning streak to four fights. Merab lost for the first time since 2018. For more information, see the Izvestia article.
Dissection of the Meraba
On the morning of December 7, the UFC 323 tournament took place in Las Vegas, in the main event of which Merab Dvalishvili met with Peter Yan. The fight for the bantamweight championship belt became a rematch: in March 2023, the Georgian defeated Yan by unanimous decision, winning each of the five rounds.
Georgian fighter Merab Dvalishvili
Merab approached the rematch as a champion and one of the most active and dominant fighters in the division. In 2025, he has already successfully defended the belt three times — first against Umar Nurmagomedov, then in a rematch with Sean O'Malley and against Corey Sandhagen. This series of defenses made him a contender for a historic achievement — the first time in UFC history when a title holder tries to defend it four times in one year.
Petr Yan went on a three-win streak after losing to Dvalishvili. The Russian defeated Chinese Song Yadong, Brazilian Davison Figueredo and American Marcus McGee. All the fights ended with a unanimous decision of the judges, and there was never any doubt about the fairness of these decisions.
Yang was preparing for the rematch in the Emirates, and his sparring partners were great wrestlers and grapplers - Sarvarjon Khamidov, Kurban Hajiyev and Sharapudin Magomedov. At the press conference and interviews during the week of the fight, Yang said many times that he was in great shape and ready to win.
In the first match, Peter had an injury to his right hand, which he almost did not hit. The rematch started with pressure from Jan. The Russian occupied the center of the cage, but Merab actively worked in the rack, throwing out a lot of punches. One of the blows landed on Peter, he was slightly shaken. While Jan was swinging, Dvalishvili did not slow down, but in the middle of the segment, Peter shook his opponent for the first time. The Georgian tried to get to his feet, but the challenger defended himself well, so Merab simply pinned him to the net. Dvalishvili's attempts to take a takedown turned out to be a failure, but due to his control at the wall and his activity at the start, he won the round.
In the second round, Merab continued to push and again tried to turn the fight to canvas. The Georgian couldn't manage to walk in one leg at all — Jan was balancing well. Then Dvalishvili decided to take a stand, but he was inaccurate. The Russian slowly increased his momentum, and surprised him by giving his opponent a takedown. The fighters had a great grappling exchange, after which Dvalishvili tried to strangle Peter with a guillotine in the rack. Jan got out, but the reigning champion still couldn't transfer him. 30 seconds before the siren, Jan had already held Merab at the net. During one of the exchanges of blows, Dvalishvili suffered a cut. The round turned out to be close, but it was still more logical to give it to Jan, who scored a clean takedown and inflicted damage in the rack.
Four — one
Yang started the third round with a beautiful but inaccurate haikik, and when Merab tried to go for a stand-up choke again, Yang threw his head on the canvas. The Georgian seemed angered by this. He still caught the Russian through the door and threw Peter twice in a row. In the stance, Yang looked preferable, but the fighters were on par in terms of the number of punches. At the same time, Merab did not stop trying takedowns, which he absolutely did not get tired of. And 15 seconds before the siren, Jan missed his opponent with a middle kick to the liver - Dvalishvili definitely felt this blow. The third round is also for the Russian.
The fourth five—minute session began calmly - Jan kept his distance, and Merab continued to try to translate. During one of them, Dvalishvili caught Jan in the guillotine again, but Peter survived the strangulation and pulled his head out of the noose. This episode seemed to cheer up the Russian — he moved forward more actively and began to hit more often. Jan worked as the first number, forcing the Georgian to retreat to the net. Peter hit the liver again, this time with his hand. The round goes to the Russian without a doubt.
Jan started the final segment with side kicks, while Merab tried to overwhelm him with activity, which he absolutely could not do. The Russian hit pointwise, and Merab — as it turns out. Peter hit a lot and accurately, and every shot looked dangerous. Dvalishvili tried to bring the fight to the ground again, but he was no longer strong enough. A minute and a half before the end, Dvalishvili tried to go to the guillotine, but Jan got out of a dangerous situation well, and 10 seconds before the siren he scored a takedown.
It was obvious that Yang had definitely taken four out of five rounds, but in the Russian's fights there were questions to the judges more than once, so the decision was expected with concern. This time, the referees did not disappoint — two gave Jan four rounds (49:48), and another one scored 3-2 in rounds (48:47). Peter took the championship belt in great style, leaving Dvalishvili no chance.
— Thank you, Las Vegas! I'm very happy to be standing here with the champion's belt," Yang said after the fight. — Thanks to all the fans! I've been working very hard, preparing for a very long time, and today this is my life. I want to give credit to the team, I fought with Aljamain [Sterling], twice with Merab. They have a very strong team. Greetings to my country, Russia, greetings to all the fans from the CIS, my family, my wife, my sons, my mom. Thanks to all the guys who helped me. Thank you very much, brothers.
Former UFC champion Oleg Taktarov explained Jan's victory to Izvestia.
"Congratulations to Peter on his confident victory, he won in all rounds," he said. — Merab swam very hard in the first round, but showed resilience of character. And so, what are frequent performances? Four fights in 2025! I've made the same mistakes in my life. I remember going to the next fight a week later....Dvalishvili decided that he is a good drummer and can beat anyone without emotional rest. The body rests emotionally for at least four months. Even if you win the fights one after the other in the first round, the crash will still happen.
Now Peter has 20 wins and 5 losses in professional MMA. Dvalishvili suffered the fifth defeat of his career with 21 wins.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
