Petr Yan was taken to the Georgian road – Newspaper Kommersant No. 9 (7454) dated 01/19/2023

One of the most famous Russian mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters, Petr Yan, will have an important fight in March against a very strong opponent. The victory over the Georgian Merab Dvalishvili will allow Yan, who recently held the UFC champion title, the main promotion in MMA, in the bantamweight (up to 61 kg), but suffered three insulting defeats, to return to the race for the title.

The fact that the UFC sanctioned the fight between Peter Yan and Merab Dvalishvili was reported by ESPN and Las Vegas Review-Journal. Dvalishvili’s manager, Oren Khodak, confirmed that a contract would soon be signed for him. The fight will take place on March 11 in Las Vegas and will be quite a significant event in the world of mixed martial arts.

For Peter Yan, it is an opportunity to once again be close to the champion title in the category up to 61 kg, which the Russian recently owned. In the summer of 2020, he became the second domestic fighter after Khabib Nurmagomedov to win the UFC title. It went to Jan, who solidified his reputation as one of the best strikers in mixed martial arts after defeating Brazilian veteran Jose Aldo.

It was assumed that Petr Yan could hold the title for quite some time. However, he broke up with him in the spring of 2021, having met with American Aljamain Sterling. Jan, who appeared to be the favorite, actually dominated the octagon, but lost the fight due to a stupid mistake in the fourth round – an illegal knee to the head.

In the spring of last year, after several postponements, a second duel was arranged between Petr Yan, who had previously defeated Corey Sandhagen, and Aljamain Sterling, which turned out to be scandalous. In the new match, Jan had an overwhelming advantage in the end, and the first rounds were more or less equal. Meanwhile, following the results of the fight, two of the three judges gave the victory with a minimum – 48:47 – advantage to Aljamain Sterling, the third with the same score – to Petr Yan. The verdict was considered unfair not only by Yan’s representatives, but also by a number of UFC fighters, and most importantly, promotion head Dana White. A rare case, but, commenting on the refereeing of the fight, he allowed himself to call it “failed.”

Petr Yan could have received candidate status again at the end of October if he had dealt with another American fighter – Sean O’Malley. But the Russian again suffered an insulting defeat. In the second round, he earned a cut over his right eye, but, despite it, he outnumbered his opponent by a head in segments. Nevertheless, two of the three judges still gave the win to O’Malley, causing outrage among the public, who considered such a result, like Yang’s representatives, unfair.

Meanwhile, a series of failures did not lead to the fall of Petr Yan in the UFC rankings. He is in third position. And the victory over Merab Dvalishvili may well increase it, given the reputation and background of the Georgian athlete. Dvalishvili is only one position below the Russian in the promotion classification, and he is considered one of the “hottest” fighters. After a misfire in a fight with Rick Simon, which happened almost five years ago, Merab Dvalishvili has gained the upper hand in eight fights in a row, including with extremely powerful opponents. In the previous – in August last year – he dealt with Jose Aldo. And ESPN, describing the Georgian, called him an athlete who combines “the ability to constantly put pressure on opponents” with “excellent wrestling skills and endurance.”

Alexey Dospekhov