UFC fighters react to Merab Dvalishvili's UFC Las Vegas domination
See how fellow fighters reacted to the performance put on by Merab Dvalishvili in his win over Petr Yan at UFC Las Vegas.
Even if he won't fight teammate Aljamain Sterling for the UFC title, Merab Dvalishvili has solidifed he is at the top of the UFC's 135-pound division, defeating former bantamweight champion Petr Yan in the main event of UFC Las Vegas.
Dvalishvili looked for control quickly, scoring takedowns and landing a number of strong strikes. This included some noteworthy calf kicks that busted up one of Yan's legs early. Dvalishvili seemed to trouble Yan with some powerful shots upstairs in the second round. While Yan briefly got some grappling control, it couldn't compare to the previous shots that stunned him and Yan's continued leg-kicking attack.
After a more even third round thanks to Yan's striking, Dvalishvili continued his unrelentless pacing in the fourth round, as he went on to set a new UFC record for most takedown attempts in a fight with 49. Dvalishvili busted up Yan with several strikes to the head in the fourth and didn't let him back into the fight.
All the judges scored the fight in Dvalishvili's favor 50-45.
Pros react to Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili
@MerabDvalishvil is a cardio machine @ufc #ufc
— Rafael dos Anjos (@RdosAnjosMMA) March 12, 2023
What an incredible performance. No one has ever dominated Yan like that. Merab is an absolute machine. #UFCLasVegas
— Ode' ⭕️sbourne 🇯🇲 (@OdeOsbourne) March 12, 2023
Merab : If wrestle f@cked was a person! Sheesh!
— Walt Harris (@thebigticket205) March 12, 2023
Merab was crazy good tonight !!!!!! @MerabDvalishvil
— Daniel Cormier (@dc_mma) March 12, 2023
Wow!!! What a performance by @MerabDvalishvil 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾 #UFCLasVegas
— Brad Tavares (@BradTavares) March 12, 2023
Shit the machine frfr what a pace
— Terrance McKinney (@twrecks155) March 12, 2023
Man the machine is a machine
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) March 12, 2023
@MerabDvalishvil my brother is a LEGEND 🇬🇪❤️ SO PROUD OF YOU ! #UFCLasVegas
— Ilia Topuria (@Topuriailia) March 12, 2023
Let’s go brotha @MerabDvalishvil way to grind him out!!!#meanmachine
— Jamahal Hill (@JamahalH) March 12, 2023
Clean win for Merab, shoutout to the LAW/Serra boys they have been crushing it #UFCLasVegas
— Billy Quarantillo (@BillyQMMA) March 12, 2023
The #machine ! There is only one ! Wow! @MerabDvalishvil #UFCFightNightLive
— Chris Weidman (@chrisweidman) March 12, 2023
Note to Bantamweights, don’t piss off Merab #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/M3kZoGjP7j
— Jasmine Jasudavicius (@JasJasudavicius) March 12, 2023
Merab just made that look easy. Wow.. #UFCVegas
— Miles Chapo Johns (@milesxjohns) March 12, 2023
Yan, the former UFC bantamweight champion, came into this bout needing a win after dropping three of his last four. Yan finished Jose Aldo at UFC 251 to win the title, but he dropped the belt to Aljamain Sterling in his first defense at UFC 259. Yan dominated the fight but an illegal knee led Yan to become the first UFC fighter to lose his championship on a disqualification.
Yan won the interim UFC bantamweight title by defeating Cory Sandhagen at UFC 260 but lost his unification bout with Sterling in a controversial split decision at UFC 273. Yan then lost an even more controversial decision to Sean O'Malley at UFC 280.
Dvalishvili has won eight straight after dropping his first two UFC bouts. Prior to today, Dvalishvili last fought at UFC 278, defeating Aldo via unanimous decision in the legendary featherweight champion's final Octagon bout.