News Merab Dvalishvili vs Petr Yan 2 for the Bantamweight Championship set to headline UFC 323 in Las Vegas on December 6

[RockyLockridge]

Merab needs to start finishing guys.
Nothing impressive about taking guys you’ve already beaten to decision, over and over.

guys like petr yan have never been finished

 

[Gregoire1]

Merab 55/45

 

[AP_RESURRECTION]

They will never let pantoja main event a ppv

He needs a personality. Maybe he can start throwing tooth picks at people and calling himself Razor Pantoja. Size can sell if you sell yourself, but otherwise no one cares. Maybe they should. But they don't.

 

[Viking Power]

Merab is an absolute animal! Yan is too but he won’t be able to do any better this time.

 

[RockyLockridge]

His only flaw is that he and his team keep putting obstacles in the way of a rematch against Umar. Merab accepts everyone but him. If Umar beats Bautista, of course it has to be him.

are you retarded?

 

[Simple Southerner]

War petr yan

 

[TheGreenMachine]

The other 3 sure haven't

Hes not wrong though. 35 is old for a lighter weight fighter, let alone the champ at 135. I still think Merab probably beats Yan, but his age is definately going to catch up with him in the next year or two. I think it will likely get him against Umar if he gets past Yan and faces him next.

 

[markg171]

Hes not wrong though. 35 is old for a lighter weight fighter, let alone the champ at 135. I still think Merab probably beats Yan, but his age is definately going to catch up with him in the next year or two. I think it will likely get him against Umar if he gets past Yan and faces him next.

Sure... at some point.

It's just extraordinarily weird to say age would catch up to Merab 2 months after his last fight where it wasn't remotely a factor yet. Merab would have to age overnight for that.

If Merab loses this it's because Yan has dramatically increased his TDD since 2023, or catches Merab with something powerful. Not because of age.

 

[Bradillac]

Yan gets held down for 25mins

Fixed that for you.

 

[Pequeño Corey]

Yan should only get taken down about 10 times here.

 

[TheMMAnalyst]

If Yan did have a broken hand that means he couldn't attack or defend properly from his power hand in stand-up and also couldn't effectively hand-fight to break grips. He got his leg chewed up early by Merab, which made absolutely no sense - when is Merab winning a kicking battle against anyone, let alone Petr Yan?

This rematch should look tremendously different, even if Merab was injured also. If Yan can hand-fight better and doesn't get his calf kicked up in the beginning and can start hot he can make Merab try to wildly close distance like he did versus Cory in spots and has far better/more dangerous counter-striking to make him pay.

I'm not saying Yan will win, but I would confidently bet that it will be far more competitive and we won't see Merab steamroll him starting in like the first two minutes again.

 

[fortheo]

They said he hurt his hand and re-injured it during the fight, but never claimed it as broken from what I can find.

Rematch, bigger cage, no injuries, ain’t getting a third shot if he loses - Yan better bring his A game because this is basically his last shot at being champ realistically.

I’ll be rooting for him.

"

John Wood Laughs at Petr Yan's Ariel Interview: "Merab's Hand Was Broken in TWO Places​

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There were videos of Merab training with like a pillow on his hand leading up to that fight. I saw images of his broken hand for that yan fight a while back and the thing looked like giant marshmallow.

 

[ShaoKahn34]

Yan has been implementing a new sneaky uppercut in his game which i could see causing issues for Merab. He dropped Figgy with it and gave Song problems too with that move.

 

[pclanadmin2]

I wonder if anyone will try the Poatan takedown defense, namely crowding the wrestler from second number 1 of the fight, more often. I mean, it's better to try it, than fucking being taken down a million times per round.

 

[TheGreenMachine]

Sure... at some point.

It's just extraordinarily weird to say age would catch up to Merab 2 months after his last fight where it wasn't remotely a factor yet. Merab would have to age overnight for that.

If Merab loses this it's because Yan has dramatically increased his TDD since 2023, or catches Merab with something powerful. Not because of age.

Age catches up on your quick, especially with injuries, overtraining, speed, and cardio. Not saying its going to happen in two months, but you underestimate how much it creeps up on you. The margins between top contenders is very small too, so even a tiny drop off could matter.

 

[Alpha_T83]

I like Yan and I'll be cheering for him, but I don't see how he wins this when he lost 50-45 to Merab just 2.5 years ago?

Unless age catches up with Merab, I'll be surprised if this rematch goes much differently.

 

[podsox]

The best time to beat merab is early in the fight. Yan*** a historically slow starter. Not the ideal matchup for Petr

 

[HNIC215]

 

[markg171]

Age catches up on your quick, especially with injuries, overtraining, speed, and cardio. Not saying its going to happen in two months, but you underestimate how much it creeps up on you. The margins between top contenders is very small too, so even a tiny drop off could matter.

No I don’t think Merab is suddenly going to age in 2 months more than Yan who is no spry chicken either.

Take a hike

 

[The Clark]

The best time to beat merab is early in the fight. Tennis a historically slow starter. Not the ideal matchup for Petr