Merab Dvalishvili names date for Petr Yan world title rematch after his win over Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Macau
UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has named a potential date for a world title rematch with Petr Yan.
The penultimate fight on the Georgian’s path to UFC 306 where he dethroned Sean O’Malley was a March 2023 win over Yan at the UFC Apex. And after watching the Russian defeat Deiveson Figueiredo in Macau on Saturday morning, he has suggested that the pair meet again in Sin City.
Yan impressed with his boxing and takedown defence to defeat his Brazilian rival in a dominant five-round decision in China. In fact, not one judge even scored a round against him as he pushed towards another shot at the gold.
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Merab Dvalishvili wants to face Petr Yan in Las Vegas next year
After watching Petr Yan land a second victory of the year in China, champion Merab Dvalishvili took to social media to give his thoughts. His current top contender is Umar Nurmagomedov, but he has been angling for a fight with the winner of the UFC Macau main event instead.
Dvalishvili believes that either Figueiredo or Yan, as former world champions, have more impressive records than Nurmagomedov, who is undefeated but unproven at the top level. And he named a prospective date for a rematch with the Russian in a post to X this afternoon.
Dvalishvili shared a video of himself wearing the title belt, which is attached to a moving car, with a caption indicating that the pair could meet at UFC 313 on March 8 next year in Las Vegas. The event has been confirmed by the promotion, but no main event has yet been confirmed.
In the video, Dvalishvili can be faintly heard telling the camera: “No one can take this belt from me – and still!” In another pair of tweets he wrote “I’m impressed @PetrYanUFC performance tonight” and “What a great fight! @PetrYanUFC @Daico_Deiveson.”
Petr Yan defeated Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Macau
It was back to his dominant best for Yan in a rare Saturday morning fight with Figueiredo in China on Saturday. He was taken down early by the Brazilian, who had boasted of his lack of ground game, but managed to get on top and turn over the first round.
From there, Yan’s impressive boxing was enough to get him in range and find his punches. In particular, the uppercut seemed to land at will and set him up for an impressive night that saw him look completely in control from the start of the second through to the final bell.
The former flyweight champion made his presence felt, however. Even as he continued to lose round after round, there never seemed to be a moment where he was out of the fight, and he really came back into his own in a back-and-forth fifth.
Ultimately, it wasn’t enough and Yan managed to get his second victory of the year after a difficult run that saw him lose three on the bounce. He has already faced Dvalishvili and his teammate Aljamain Sterling, but is confident of a rematch victory.
Petr Yan calls out Merab Dvalishvili after dominant UFC Macau win
In the immediate aftermath of his victory, Yan got on the microphone and told Michael Bisping exactly what he wants next. He noted that the Georgian had believed Figueiredo to be the next contender, which should see him leapfrog into that spot by winning.
“Hey guys, before my fight, Merab said that Deiveson Figueiredo was the number one contender who deserved the title fight,” Yan told the former middleweight champion through a translator. “I want to say to Merab, what do you say now?!
“When I’ve beaten the number one contender in my division, I want to do a rematch with Merab – let’s get him!”
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