More than two years after losing to Merab Dvalishvili, Petr Yan has exacted the highest measure of revenge.
The now three-time bantamweight champion (once interim) reclaimed the belt on Saturday night with a unanimous decision win (49-46, 49-46, 48-47) over Dvalishvili in the main event of UFC 323.
Yan's latest victory marked four consecutive wins — improving to 20-5-0 — while catapulting him from the No. 5-ranked contender at 135 pounds to champion once more.
The 30-year-old from Russia was first named bantamweight champion in 2020, when he TKO'd Jose Aldo to claim the then-vacant belt. Yan went on to lose his first title defence to Aljimain Sterling in Mar. 2021, only to reclaim the belt (with an interim tag) by beating Cory Sandhagen seven months later, but lost it once to none other than Sterling.
Yan's second time losing the bantamweight title started a three-fight skid that was punctuated with a unanimous decision defeat to none other than Dvalishvili.
Since then, Yan regrouped with a trio of victories against ranked contenders — Song Yadong (No. 5), Deiveson Figueiredo (No. 6) and Marcus McGhee (No. 15) — to earn not only another title shot, but a chance at redemption against Dvalishvili.
And "No Mercy" showed none while making the most of his latest opportunity.
Yan matched Dvalishvili's heralded pace, cardio and takedown antics, while routinely clipping the "The Machine" with equally precise — as they were devastating — counter shots. He landed 56 per cent of his significant strikes on Dvalishvili, none more notable than Yan's body shots that incited audible groans of pain from the battered now-former champ.
The stunning upset loss undoubtedly topples the mountain of momentum Dvalishvili had built. It snapped a seven-fight win streak (now 21-5-0), which included three consecutive title defences — all during 2025 — after he claimed the bantamweight title against Sean O'Malley last year.
Saturday's result at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas was the Georgian's first loss since 2021.
The UFC will return on Dec. 13, when Brandon Royval and Manel Kape headline a Fight Night card for the promotion's final event of the year.
