Merab Dvalishvili Defends His Bantamweight Title at UFC 323
Less than ten days before defending his title at UFC 322, UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili already has his next challenge. Dvalishvili (21-4) will seek to defend his title for the fourth time this year in the main event of UFC 323, facing Petr Yan (19-5) on December 6 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, according to UFC CEO Dana White.If Dvalishvili wins, he will become the first champion in UFC history to defend a championship four times in a calendar year. In addition to the main event, the flyweight champion, Alexandre Pantoja (30-5), will defend his title against the promising contender Joshua Van (15-2). The former two-weight champion, Henry Cejudo (16-5), will also compete on the card against Payton Talbott (10-1). This fight will be a rematch of the five-round fight that took place in March 2023, when Dvalishvili was ascending to get the title. Dvalishvili dominated Yan in that fight, outstriking him in total strikes 147-75, and winning every round according to the judges’ scorecards. Dvalishvili also took down Yan, former champion, 11 times. Dvalishvili, from Georgia, is ranked as the number 3 pound-for-pound fighter in the world.Merab has to be respected for wanting to break the record. I love this.
Dana White
