Merab Dvalishvili will get Petr Yan trilogy fight next, predicts UFC analyst

UFC analyst Din Thomas believes Merab Dvalishvili will get the trilogy fight against Petr Yan in his next outing.

As we know, Merab Dvalishvili came up short in his attempt to successfully defend the UFC bantamweight championship for the fourth time in 2025. He lost the strap to Petr Yan, who was able to avenge his loss from their first meeting. As you can imagine, Merab is pretty determined to get a trilogy bout against the new champion.

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Of course, there are a few other names lingering around such as Sean O’Malley and Umar Nurmagomedov, but both need to win their upcoming fights if they want to be in consideration. As for Dvalishvili, he just needs to heal up and wait to see what the state of the division looks like in a few months.

In a recent podcast appearance, Din Thomas explained why he thinks Dvalishvili deserves the trilogy fight.

Thomas’ view on Yan vs Dvalishvili 3

“I think Merab is going to get the fight next,” Thomas told MMA Junkie. “I really do believe Merab is going to get the fight next. I think they kind of owe it to him because Merab didn’t even have to take that fight. It almost felt like Merab was doing them a favor by taking a fight at the end of the year.

“Merab is a dog. I’m sure he didn’t look at it as, ‘Oh, I’m doing them a favor.’ Merab wanted to fight, but I’m sure when Merab was like, ‘I’ll fight in the last show,’ I’m sure the UFC was like, ‘Phew, now we don’t have to worry about booking a headliner. Merab will do it.’ So, I think the UFC will give this one back to Merab regardless what happens with O’Malley and Umar.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie