Merab Dvalishvili Admits He Fought Yan's Fight and Vows Change for UFC 333 Trilogy
Merab Dvalishvili says he made a critical mistake in the UFC 323 rematch and plans to correct it when he faces Petr Yan a third time.
Merab Dvalishvili knows what went wrong against Petr Yan the second time around, and he says it will not happen again.
The former bantamweight champion told LowKick MMA that he made a critical error at UFC 323 by abandoning his own style. "I think the second fight I was fighting his fight," Dvalishvili said, explaining that he stood in front of Yan and traded punches instead of implementing his relentless pressure game.
Yan capitalized on that mistake. The Russian's superior boxing and game planning earned him the victory in the rematch, evening the series at one apiece. Now a third fight is scheduled for UFC 333 in December, and Dvalishvili says the version of himself who shows up will be different.
"I will be much sharper," Dvalishvili said. He plans to fight his own fight this time, which means getting back to the grinding, pace-heavy approach that won him the bantamweight title in the first place. When Dvalishvili is at his best, he smothers opponents with volume and wrestling. When he tries to box, he plays into the hands of a striker like Yan.
Dvalishvili also spoke about the depth of the bantamweight division, per LowKick MMA, highlighting prospects like Raul Rosas Jr. and praising Song Yadong as a contender who "hits like a truck."
The trilogy carries significant weight. The winner likely gets next crack at whoever holds the 135-pound belt, and both men know a rubber match loss could drop them out of the title picture entirely. For Dvalishvili, correcting the tactical mistake that cost him the rematch is the whole fight.
Merab is telling on himself here, and I respect it. He knows exactly what he did wrong. He tried to stand and bang with one of the best boxers in MMA and got outworked. That is not who Merab Dvalishvili is.
When Merab fights like Merab, he is a nightmare. The pace, the chain wrestling, the cardio that makes opponents quit on their stool mentally even if they survive physically. He beat Yan the first time doing that. He lost the rematch trying to be someone else.
The question is whether he can actually go back. Fighters say they will stick to the plan all the time, and then the bright lights come on and ego takes over. Yan is going to try to bait him into exchanges again, because Yan is smart and knows that is where he wins. If Merab takes the bait twice, that is a pattern, not a mistake. December will tell us which version of Dvalishvili is the real one.
