Merab Dvalishvili reveals the biggest mistake Petr Yan made in their first fight ahead of rematch at UFC 323

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili expects to fight a much better version of Petr Yan at UFC 323.

Dvalishvili fought Yan back in March of 2023 in the main event of a Fight Night card. Although Dvalishvili was the underdog going into the fight, he dominated the Russian en route to a lopsided decision.

Since then, Dvalishvili has won five more fights, including winning and now defending his bantamweight title three times. Yan, meanwhile, has won three straight fights to earn another crack at Dvalishvili.

Merab Dvalishvili and Petr Yan will now headline UFC 323 in December in Las Vegas for the bantamweight title. Although Dvalishvili is now the betting favorite, he does expect it to be a tougher fight, as he expects Yan to fix the key mistakes he made.

Merab Dvalishvili expects Petr Yan to fix mistakes at UFC 323

“First fight I was nervous, stressful, it was another pressure to fight against Petr Yan,” Dvalishvili said on the “Believe You Me” podcast (via MMAJunkie). “Now I’m more mature. I’m comfortable now, but I don’t want to be too comfortable because I’m sure Petr Yan will fix his mistakes from the first fight.

“The biggest mistake he made was that he didn’t respect me in the first fight. He was thinking I wouldn’t be able to do anything against him. That was his biggest mistake. He didn’t respect me, and whatever I was better at, I’m sure he will fix it, and I have to be an even better version.”

Given that they have now fought each other, Dvalishvili expects Yan to respect his wrestling and takedown moves. Whether or not that will change the outcome of the fight is to be seen, but Dvalishvili is expecting it to be a tougher fight than their bout back in 2023.

UFC 323 is set to go down on Saturday, December 6, at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The main event sees Merab Dvalishvili defending his bantamweight title in a rematch against Petr Yan.