UFC 323’s Petr Yan not overly impressed by Merab Dvalishvili’s activity
As UFC 323 draws closer, Petr Yan isn’t mesmerized by Merab Dvalishvili’s activity.
Dvalishvili is nearing the record for the most successful title defenses in a single year in UFC history. To break the record, “The Machine” will need to defeat Yan in a rematch on Saturday. Dvalishvili holds a unanimous decision victory over Yan, and he’s hoping to find even better success this go-around.
Speaking to reporters during fight week, Yan explained why Dvalishvili’s busy 2025 doesn’t exactly impress him (via MMAFighting).
“It’s very easy to fight in your backyard,” Yan said via a Russian translator at UFC 323 media day on Wednesday. “Here, or Los Angeles, it’s basically like fighting at home. You can fight at home every single weekend in your backyard, you can fight all the time. When I signed a contract in 2018, I had five fights that year as well, they were not at home. If I could fight at home every one of those fights, I could fight 10 times that year.”
Yan also reminded media members that he has performed better in rematches before. He believes that will be the case when he gets a second opportunity to share the Octagon with Dvalishvili.
“Obviously, we have a lot of information that we downloaded about each other,” Yan said. “We know each other better, but if you look at my first two rematches with Magomedov and Sterling, you can see that I was 100 percent better in the second fight so I am determined to make sure that I’m much better in this second fight against Merab.”
UFC 323 takes place on Saturday in Las Vegas, and BJPenn.com will have you covered throughout fight night. Be sure to visit the homepage for live results, video highlights, and reactions from pro MMA fighters and popular personalities. We’ll also be bringing you all of the key post-fight tidbits.
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Topics:
Merab Dvalishvili Petr Yan UFC
