Petr Yan Edges Merab Dvalishvili in Trilogy to Keep Bantamweight Crown

Petr Yan didn't panic when the fight got away from him early. He let Merab Dvalishvili burn through the opening rounds chasing takedowns, then flipped the switch and took over, retaining his bantamweight title with a unanimous decision at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi. All three judges landed on 48-47, a razor-thin margin that doesn't quite capture how comfortable Yan looked down the stretch.

This was the trilogy ender between two of the division's best, and Yan now owns two straight wins over the former champ. Dvalishvili threw more than 50 takedown attempts across the 25 minutes and cashed in on only a handful. Yan's takedown defense was the story — he got dropped a couple of times early and popped straight back up, then made Dvalishvili pay on the feet every time the wrestling stalled.

How It Unfolded

The first two rounds belonged to Dvalishvili. He opened with a hard leg kick and a stiff right hand before diving on a single leg, and he kept marching forward, chaining attempts, forcing Yan into defense. He finally landed a takedown or two, but Yan refused to stay down for long, scrambling back to his feet almost on contact.

Round two was more of the same relentless pressure. Dvalishvili blitzed in, reset on the feet when the shot failed, and blitzed again — a pitbull who never let Yan settle into a rhythm. Yan countered where he could, but the pace kept him honest.

The tide turned somewhere in the middle rounds. Yan connected with a clean left hook, then another stinging left hand, and started digging to the body with sharp combinations. Dvalishvili ate the big shots and kept coming, but by the fourth he'd visibly slowed. Yan began walking him down, picking his spots, mixing in body kicks.

By the fifth, the champion was patient and precise. He weathered Dvalishvili's frantic late surge, snapped off a pair of left hands, and closed with a combination into a nasty body kick to stamp the win. Yan said afterward his corner had told him the fight was two-two heading into the final round — win it and win the fight. He did exactly that.

What It Means

Dvalishvili took the loss with zero excuses. He congratulated Yan, called him the better man on the night, and said he can do better. That's a classy exit from a fighter who left it all out there and simply couldn't crack Yan's defense.

For Yan, the win reopens the division. He's already called his shot — he said he isn't picking anyone in particular, naming Song Yadong and Sean O'Malley as options, and insisting whoever makes weight is getting taken down. O'Malley is the obvious box-office play given their history, but a fresh name like Song would give Yan a clean slate.

Dvalishvili's path forward is murkier. Two straight losses to the same man don't end a career, but they do push him down the pecking order in a bantamweight division stacked with contenders. A rebuild bout against a rising name makes the most sense before he's back in title conversation.

Around the Card

Elsewhere on the UFC 333 bill, Dominick Reyes kept his light heavyweight revival alive by putting Azamat Murzakanov down for the count. Reyes, now riding momentum off a split-decision win over Johnny Walker, hands the previously once-beaten Murzakanov his second straight loss after Paulo Costa's third-round KO earlier in the year.

Aaron Pico needed less than two minutes to blow through Losene Keita, a statement from a fighter still finding his footing in the UFC. And heavyweight contender Alexander Volkov, ranked No. 2 in the division at 40-11, added another win and made clear he wants a title shot next. For Yan, though, the night was about one thing: closing the book on Dvalishvili and keeping the belt exactly where it is.