Petr Yan Beat Merab Dvalishvili Again at UFC 333: What the Trilogy Settled at Bantamweight
Petr Yan kept his bantamweight title at UFC 333 on Saturday in Abu Dhabi, beating Merab Dvalishvili by unanimous decision in the co-main event at Etihad Arena. All three judges had it 48-47, which means all three gave Dvalishvili the first two rounds and Yan the last three.
That is exactly how the fight looked. It is also exactly how Yan planned it.
Dvalishvili Attempted 58 Takedowns and Landed Five
The numbers on this one are hard to believe. Per ESPN data, Dvalishvili went for 58 takedowns across five rounds and completed five. Yahoo Sports called the attempt total a new UFC record, and CBS Sports noted it was up from 49 in the pair’s first meeting.
The split is where the fight lives. Dvalishvili attempted 19 takedowns in the first two rounds and landed five. He attempted 39 more over the final three rounds and landed none.
Yan took over in the third after hurting Dvalishvili with a kick to the body, then spent the rest of the night refusing to go down. He landed 94 of 206 significant strikes and never attempted a takedown of his own. Dvalishvili landed 139 of 410.
Yan Said His Corner Called It at the Break
“I was listening to my coach, he said it was two-two, you win the fifth round, you win the fight,” Yan said afterward.
That is a fighter who understood he was behind and understood exactly what the math required. Giving away two rounds to a wrestler who had already beaten you once is not a strategy anyone would recommend, and Yan made it work anyway.
Shamil Gaziev’s read on social media was blunt: “Perfect plan by @PetrYanUFC. Gave 2 rounds to take 3.”
The Scorecards Were Questioned, Not Condemned
A handful of fighters raised eyebrows. Former UFC strawweight Jessica Penne wrote, “I’m not a judge. But I had Merab winning. Regardless it was an incredible fight!” Muhammad Mokaev and Derek Brunson both asked their followers what they thought of the decision without saying the judges got it wrong.
Nobody involved called it a robbery, and the most important voice did not either. Dvalishvili’s own verdict: “he beat me today, he’s the better man.” He added, “I can do better.”
The UFC gave both men Fight of the Night and $100,000 apiece, which is the promotion’s way of saying the scoring was not the story.
Where This Leaves the Division
Yan is 33, Russian, and now 21-5. This was the first defense of his second title reign, which began when he took the belt from Dvalishvili at UFC 323 last December. He has not lost since March 2023 and came into Saturday having recently recovered from back surgery.
Dvalishvili is 35 and falls to 21-6. He held the belt from September 2024 through December 2025 and defended it three times. He is now on the first two-fight losing streak of his career, and the UFC 323 loss had ended a 14-fight run that lasted more than seven years.
Yan is not angling for anything in particular. “I do not pick fights,” he said. “Give me Song Yadong, give me King Kong, give me anybody, just make weight and I’ll take you down.” Yahoo reported Song Yadong and Sean O’Malley as the likeliest next options. Bleacher Report noted an O’Malley rematch is possible, with the caveat that the UFC has confirmed nothing.
The trilogy is over at 2-1 Yan, and the thing it settled is simple. Dvalishvili’s pressure is still the hardest problem in the division, and Yan is the one man who has now solved it twice.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
