Petr Yan isn’t winging the trilogy. The bantamweight champion has put together a five-page tactical plan for Merab Dvalishvili ahead of their third fight at UFC 333, according to MiddleEasy, which reported Monday that Yan detailed his preparation, responded to Dvalishvili’s pre-fight criticism and declined to say who he wants next.
That last part tells you plenty. Yan is the champion, he’s defending the belt Saturday, Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi, and he isn’t looking past the man directly in front of him. Five pages for one opponent he’s already shared 10 rounds’ worth of cage time with across two fights is a lot of homework, and it fits a guy who has spent this camp talking about preparation instead of trading barbs.
How They Got Here
The series is tied at one apiece. Dvalishvili won the first meeting convincingly, a result that capped a three-fight skid for Yan that also included split-decision losses to Aljamain Sterling in their rematch and to Sean O’Malley. Then came December, when Yan took the title back from Dvalishvili in a performance MMA Fighting’s Alexander K. Lee called vintage, describing Yan as a Terminator at his peak.
Dvalishvili’s year since has been bumpy. Beyond losing the UFC belt, he got pinned in 36 seconds by Henry Cejudo at RAF 12 in August, with Cejudo taking the RAF lightweight crossover title. RAF’s first crossover rankings, released Monday, slot Dvalishvili at No. 5.
Yan vs. Dvalishvili 3 is the co-main event under Alexander Volkanovski’s featherweight title defense against the unbeaten Movsar Evloev. ESPN marked the occasion by breaking down all 19 of the UFC’s trilogies, a short list for a promotion this old.
The legacy math is loud, too. MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew counted it out: a Yan win gives him three title wins, while Dvalishvili sits on five. Meshew still has Dominick Cruz, with seven, as the bantamweight GOAT and said only a Dvalishvili win gets close enough to start that debate. Lee went the other way and said whoever wins the series is the best ever at 135. Meshew also floated Payton Talbott as the type of fight that could follow for a Yan who keeps winning, though Yan himself wouldn’t go there.
One more data point from an unlikely place. Farid Basharat, explaining on his YouTube channel why going to decision doesn’t make a fighter dull, pointed out that Yan hasn’t finished anyone in over six years and still called him “arguably the most entertaining fighter on the roster.” Hard to argue. Yan’s fights go long because he keeps pressing the whole time.
My Take
Dvalishvili’s game has always been volume, the takedown attempts stacking up until the other guy’s legs give out somewhere in the third round. December showed Yan has answers for it, and a five-page plan suggests he’s built a few more. I’d love a finish, given the six-year drought Basharat flagged, but honestly I’ll take five rounds of this matchup over almost anything else in the division. Saturday in Abu Dhabi, Yan gets to show everybody what was on those pages.
