Yan begins to defend his own
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title against Dvalishvili at
UFC 333 On October 24 at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Their series is tied at 1-1, but Yan will be hoping to repeat his dominant performance in the rematch.
Petr Yan is looking for another dominant performance against Merab Dvalishvili in the UFC 333 title trilogy
Dvalishvili outclassed Yan with his wrestling to win their first meeting by unanimous decision in 2023. Yan reversed the outcome in their December 2025 rematch, repeatedly defending takedowns and landing effective strikes to reclaim the championship via unanimous decision.
“No Mercy” is expecting another strong performance in their rubber match.
“We definitely have enough information downloaded from the time we spent together in the Octagon,” Yan said in a pre-fight interview. “But the second win was obviously very dominant. I’ve understood him and I’ll do everything I can to bring the same type of win this time and even open up new layers that we haven’t seen yet.”
“They’re the big two in this division.” champion Peter Yan
(@PetrYanUFC) is absolutely confident going into this third fight Merab Dvalishvili and believes he has more to show. @VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | In #AbuDhabi | @ParamountPlus https://t.co/he3RmXsXpp— UFC News (@UFCNews)
October 21, 2026
