Petr Yan VS Merab Dvalishvili

Petr Yan retained the UFC bantamweight championship by unanimous decision over Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on October 24, 2026, with all three judges scoring the five-round title fight 48-47. Dvalishvili established his wrestling immediately, landing repeated takedowns in the first two rounds and attempting more than 50 across the full five rounds, but Yan got back to his feet on each occasion and began denying the grappling with increasing authority from the third round onward. Yan controlled rounds three through five with sharp body kicks, straight jabs, and punching combinations, turning the championship rounds into a striking contest where Dvalishvili had no answer. The win is the decisive chapter of their trilogy: Dvalishvili had used a UFC-record 49 takedown attempts to win their first encounter, but Yan has now outperformed him in both title-level meetings, capturing the belt at UFC 323 in December 2025 and defending it here to improve to 21-5.

The UFC bantamweight title is on the line in a trilogy rubber match between champion Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili, who each hold one win in the series. Dvalishvili's smothering wrestling dominated their first fight, but Yan neutralized that game plan in the rematch to capture the belt. The third installment pits Dvalishvili's promise of new tools against Yan's refined takedown defense in what amounts to a five-round chess match between two elite craftsmen.