March 11, 2023 9:15 pm ET
Unhealthy blood construct up boiled over in a one-sided show of cardio and tempo Saturday at UFC Fight Night 221 as Merab Dvalishvili broke the promotion’s takedown try report in a unanimous resolution victory over rival Petr Yan.
The bantamweight bout served as the cardboard’s essential occasion at The Theater at Virgin Inns in Las Vegas and noticed Dvalishvili (16-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) sweep the judges scorecards, every tallied at 50-45.
In his first-ever UFC essential occasion, Dvalishvili set a relentless tempo, as he pressured Yan (16-5 MMA, 8-4 UFC) for everything of 25 minutes with a barrage of takedown makes an attempt (49 whole), leg kicks, and wild boxing exchanges.
Whereas Yan displayed elite stability and evaded lots of Dvalishvili’s makes an attempt, often, he would fail in that division. Because the minutes ticked, Yan appeared to battle with composure and resets. Dvalishvili didn’t give him many alternatives to breathe. With Ray Longo, Matt Serra, and UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling in his nook, Dvalishvili was visibly fired up sufficient in between every spherical to face moderately than use the stool.
It wasn’t a whole shutout. Yan discovered success with leg kicks and counterpunches. Dvalishvili returned with many leg kicks of his personal. The combat entered the championship rounds with a raucous pro-Dvalishvili crowd, as his nook indicated they thought Yan was fading quick. Yan sported swelling over his left eye however continued to hold robust. Yan moved backwards as Dvalishvili continued to push ahead. The slight swelling on Yan’s eye was vital swelling.
Within the opening 10 seconds of Spherical 5, Yan shot for a takedown on Dvalishvili. The try at a script flip was unsuccessful. Dvalishvili continued his relentless takedown assault and stored Yan at bay. He shot till the ultimate bell – and swept the judges scorecards.
Machine like output by @MerabDvalishvil! #UFCLasVegas pic.twitter.com/LlIhOyTikJ
— UFC (@ufc) March 12, 2023
Dvalishvili and Yan indicated bitter emotions towards one one another within the lead-up to the bout. At a pre-fight information convention, Dvalishvili rattled off a laundry list of qualms he had with Yan – together with nationality, playing money owed, threats, and extra. Yan initially shrugged off Dvalishvili, however then chopped him in the neck on the pre-fight faceoffs.
With the victory, Dvalishvili extends his profitable streak to 9. Whereas different fighters if in an identical place could be in line for a title shot, Dvalishvili has repeatedly stated he gained’t combat Sterling, his teammate and good friend who holds the UFC bantamweight title.
The defeat marks the third in a row for Yan, who has gone 1-4 in his most up-to-date 5.
Up-to-the-minute UFC Struggle Night time 221 outcomes embody:
For extra on the cardboard, go to MMA Junkie’s occasion hub for UFC Fight Night 221.
