Bad blood build up boiled over in a one-sided display of cardio and pace Saturday at UFC Fight Night 221 as Merab Dvalishvili broke the promotion’s takedown attempt record in a unanimous decision victory over rival Petr Yan.
The bantamweight bout served as the card’s main event at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas and saw Dvalishvili (16-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) sweep the judges scorecards, each tallied at 50-45.
In his first-ever UFC main event, Dvalishvili set a relentless pace, as he pressured Yan (16-5 MMA, 8-4 UFC) for the entirety of 25 minutes with a barrage of takedown attempts (49 total), leg kicks, and wild boxing exchanges.
While Yan displayed elite balance and evaded many of Dvalishvili’s attempts, occasionally, he would fail in that department. As the minutes ticked, Yan seemed to struggle with composure and resets. Dvalishvili didn’t give him many opportunities to breathe. With Ray Longo, Matt Serra, and UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling in his corner, Dvalishvili was visibly fired up enough in between each round to stand rather than use the stool.
It wasn’t a complete shutout. Yan found success with leg kicks and counterpunches. Dvalishvili returned with many leg kicks of his own.
The fight entered the championship rounds with a raucous pro-Dvalishvili crowd, as his corner indicated they thought Yan was fading fast. Yan sported swelling over his left eye but continued to hang tough. Yan moved backwards as Dvalishvili continued to push forward. The slight swelling on Yan’s eye turned into significant swelling.
In the opening 10 seconds of Round 5, Yan shot for a takedown on Dvalishvili. The attempt at a script flip was unsuccessful. Dvalishvili continued his relentless takedown attack and kept Yan at bay. He shot until the final bell – and swept the judges scorecards.
Machine like output by @MerabDvalishvil! #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/LlIhOyTikJ
— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023
Dvalishvili and Yan indicated sour feelings toward one each other in the lead-up to the bout. At a pre-fight news conference, Dvalishvili rattled off a laundry list of qualms he had with Yan – including nationality, gambling debts, threats, and more. Yan initially shrugged off Dvalishvili, but then chopped him in the neck at the pre-fight faceoffs.
With the victory, Dvalishvili extends his winning streak to nine. While other fighters if in a similar position might be in line for a title shot, Dvalishvili has repeatedly said he won’t fight Sterling, his teammate and friend who holds the UFC bantamweight title.
The defeat marks the third in a row for Yan, who has gone 1-4 in his most recent five.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Fight Night 221 results include:
- Merab Dvalishvili def. Petr Yan via unanimous decision (50-45, 50-45, 50-45)
- Alexander Volkov def. Alexandr Romanov via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:16
- Nikita Krylov def. Ryan Spann via submission (triangle choke) – Round 1, 3:38
- Jonathan Martinez def. Said Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Mario Bautista def. Guido Cannetti via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 3:18
- Vitor Petrino def. Anton Turkalji via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)
- Karl Williams def. Lukasz Brzeski via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-27)
- Davey Grant def. Raphael Assuncao via technical submission (reverse triangle choke) – Round 3, 4:43
- Josh Fremd def. Sedriques Dumas via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 3:00
- Victor Henry def. Tony Gravely via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
- Ariane Lipski def. JJ Aldrich via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Bruno Silva def. Tyson Nam via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:23
- Carlston Harris def. Jared Gooden via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 221.
