“The Machine” had his hands full against Petr Yan during their five round main event at The Theatre at Virgin Casinos on Saturday night … literally.
Petr Yan is a former UFC bantamweight champion and one of the most violent men in the division. That didn’t stop Merab Dvalishvili from manhandling him for the vast majority of their 25 minute main event on Saturday night in Las Vegas..
Dvalishvili had clearly done his homework on Yan and had a takedown attempt ready for every interaction. He pumped the jab to get Yan to cover up, then shot under for a double leg. He ducked under hooks to grab Yan’s leg, driving him back into the cage. And every time Yan would change posture to defend a shoot, Merab would grab him in a front headlock.
It was such a dominating performance that all three judges scored it 50-45 for Dvalishvili. The Georgian fighter was feeling so good about the fight that he started messing around, grabbing Petr Yan’s butt and squeezing it as the Russian pushed him up against the cage.
Uuuurm… Merab? pic.twitter.com/F1V8NdMZXC
— ??????????? (@TheArtOfWar6) March 12, 2023
Our professional stats counters saw four significant slaps and two firm squeezes from Merab Dvalishvili, in addition to the 49 takedown attempts he launched during the fight. The win moves him to 16-4 MMA (9-2 UFC) and puts him on a wild nine-fight win streak.
As for Yan, he’s now on a three-fight losing skid. And unlike his split decision losses to Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley, there’s zero controversy over who really won this fight. Dvalishvili imposed his gameplan thoroughly on Yan, never really allowing Petr to get any serious offense going.
Another strange and amusing moment from UFC Las Vegas came in the featured prelim fight of the night. As Lukasz Brzeski walked to the cage for his fight against Karl Williams, cameras caught him high-fiving several fans. Unfortunately, one of those fans was holding a beer and not an outstretched hand.
Brzeski slapped it anyway, sending brew flying all over the crowd.
Brzeski owes that dude $17.50 pic.twitter.com/uZIoSzF8Xa
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) March 11, 2023
A lesson for MMA fans: protect your beer at all times.
For complete UFC Las Vegas: “Yan vs. Dvalishvili” results and play-by-play, click HERE.