Merab Dvalishvili says there’s no bad blood with Petr Yan heading into UFC 323

UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has said there’s no bad blood between him and Petr Yan ahead of UFC 323.

On Saturday night, Merab Dvalishvili will take on Petr Yan in the main event of UFC 323. If he’s able to pick up the win, Merab will officially go 4-0 this year, successfully defending his belt on every occasion. Of course, these two men have fought before, with ‘The Machine’ picking up the win on that occasion en route to earning his own shot at the gold.

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Since then, Yan has battled back into contention, and he’s ready to go out there and prove why he deserves to have the belt wrapped around his waist once again. While there was some notable back and forth between the two in the lead-up to that contest, we haven’t really seen that manifest this time around.

According to Dvalishvili, there’s nothing personal between him and his upcoming opponent.

Dvalishvili’s view on Yan heading into UFC 323

“That time it was more personal for me. Now it’s more competition because we fought once already and I beat him,” Dvalishvili explained. “Every time he was fighting I was cheering for him, and I look at his Instagram, and he’s a great father, and as a fighter he’s always been a good fighter. The only problem I had with him was that he was bullying. He was talking trash about me and Aljo (Aljamain Sterling), about our team, and he was just not giving us respect. That was the problem, but now it’s all good. I shake his hand and wish him the best in his life.”

“I never liked this made-up drama,” Dvalishvili said. “It’s a fight, and we’re professionals, people will watch anyway. … I don’t like this man. MMA fans will watch our fights anyway. If it’s not organic, why do we have to disrespect each other? I never liked this. Whatever it was, it was real. I’m a real guy. Maybe I joke, but joke is joke. I don’t like to talk trash for no reason, and I don’t like somebody to disrespect me for no reason.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie