Petr Yan defeated Merab Dvalishvili in a five-round bout via judges’ decision at UFC 323. At the beginning of the fight, both fighters cautiously engaged in positional testing.
In the opening minutes, Dvalishvili appeared more aggressive, but Yan maintained his composure and controlled the fight with counterpunches. During the first round, Dvalishvili attempted multiple takedowns and tried to apply pressure, but Yan successfully defended against these attempts and held his ground.
The Russian fighter achieved a slight edge in accurate strikes. In the second round, Yan stepped up his aggression.
He countered Dvalishvili’s pressure against the cage effectively, delivered powerful counterattacks, and landed several strikes to the body. Dvalishvili’s repeated attempts to transition the fight to grappling were once again unsuccessful.
By the end of the round, Dvalishvili emerged from the break with a broken nose. Yan started the third round strong, taking his opponent to the ground and delivering heavy blows.
Despite this, Dvalishvili managed a few takedowns, but they failed to give him any significant advantage. As the fight progressed, the intensity increased, and the pace quickened.
In the fourth round, Yan focused again on body shots and strikes in the clinch. Knee strikes and side punches exhausted Dvalishvili, though the Georgian fighter had some successful moments as well.
This round was also controlled by Yan. In the final, fifth round, Dvalishvili attempted to save the fight by being more active.
He tried to grapple and even attempted to attack from behind, but he lacked the energy needed to take full control. Although Yan was fatigued, he continued to dominate, landing body strikes and executing a takedown in the final minutes of the fight.
It should be noted that in March 2023, Dvalishvili had defeated Yan by unanimous decision. In addition to the main fight of the event, Uzbekistan’s Bogdan Guskov and Poland’s Jan Blachowicz ended their bout in a draw.
Henry Cejudo, meanwhile, suffered a loss to Peyton Talbott and announced his retirement from professional competition.
Users of Меҳмон are not allowed to comment this publication.
