Outside Source
Merab Dvalishvili saw a 14-bout winning streak end at UFC 323. | Getty/UFC
Merab Dvalishvili’s run at the top of the UFC ’s bantamweight division came to an end on Saturday night.
Attempting to make his fourth successful championship defense of 2025, “The Machine” dropped a unanimous decision to Petr Yan in the UFC 323 main event at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. While Dvalishvili’s relentless pressure and grappling carried him past Yan in their first meeting, the Russian came back with an improved performance in the rematch to capture bantamweight gold.
Resolve of a Champion
After the setback, Dvalishvili released a brief statement on social media.
“Tonight wasn’t my night, but I will back stronger than ever,” Dvalishvili wrote on X. “Thank you everyone for your support.”
tonight wasn’t my night, but I will back stronger than ever. Thank you everyone for your support. 🙏
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) December 7, 2025
Prior to UFC 323, Dvalishvili had won 14 consecutive outings in the Octagon. He won the belt with a unanimous decison victory against Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 before authoring successful title defenses Umar Nurmagomedov, O’Malley and Cory Sandhagen this year.
In his first meeting with Yan, the Georgian standout wore his adversary down by attempting a whopping 49 takedowns en route to a five-round verdict in the UFC Fight Night 221 headliner on March 11, 2023. This time, however, Yan battered Dvalishvili with stiff jabs and attacks to the body while denying the vast majority of his foe’s takedown attempts. Dvalishvili was still relentless in his forward movement and pressure, and the end result was a memorable championship bout that earned “Fight of the Night” honors.
This article first appeared at Recent News on Sherdog.com
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