Merab Dvalishvili is going back to work. The former UFC bantamweight champion has been added to Real American Freestyle’s November 14 event in Abu Dhabi, Bloody Elbow reported, which means he’ll compete in the same city in back-to-back months. The RAF card is headlined by Khamzat Chimaev vs. Colby Covington, and Dvalishvili’s opponent hasn’t been announced.
The turnaround comes right after his October trilogy with Petr Yan, a fight that went the full distance for the third time in their rivalry and ended with Yan keeping the bantamweight title. That result put Yan up in the series and kept the belt with “No Mercy,” who took it from Dvalishvili last December. The October bout was Dvalishvili’s first fight of 2026, and plenty of people have it on their fight-of-the-year shortlist.
The obvious knock here is the same one that followed the December loss. A lot of observers felt Dvalishvili’s nonstop schedule in 2025 caught up with him in that first title loss to Yan. He doesn’t seem bothered. In the days after the October fight, he said he’d be open to competing again in November and that he had no regrets about his approach. He also talked about wanting a quick UFC return, but Bloody Elbow noted the UFC’s cards look full until at least early 2027. So the Octagon will have to wait, and the wrestling mat gets him in the meantime.
The Cejudo question
This will be Dvalishvili’s fourth RAF appearance, and two of his first three came against Henry Cejudo, a familiar name from his UFC run. Each man now holds a win over the other in the promotion. Cejudo evened things in August, beating Dvalishvili in 36 seconds.
Before UFC 333, Dvalishvili already floated the rubber match for this exact date and place. “I’d like to have a trilogy with Henry Cejudo, and Abu Dhabi would be a great place,” he told Red Corner MMA. He didn’t make excuses for the August loss. “I got caught, like you can get caught in fighting,” he said. “He found the moment and I made a mistake.” Then he added, “Third time will be different.”
Nothing has been confirmed, so for now the Cejudo trilogy is only something Dvalishvili asked for.
My take
I’m fine with this. A freestyle match is a far lighter load than five rounds with Yan, and Dvalishvili’s whole identity is the chain wrestling, the shot that turns into a second shot that turns into a mat return before you’ve posted a hand. Letting him do that without anyone throwing elbows is about as low-risk as competition gets for a guy who clearly hates sitting still. The activity concern belongs to his MMA calendar, and that calendar is closed until 2027 anyway. Give him Cejudo. Two men who each have a win, a 36-second loss still stinging, and a guy promising the third time goes differently. Book it for November 14 and let him prove it.
