Dvalishvili defeated Petr Yan in the main event of the UFC in Las Vegas
Over five rounds, Dvalishvili set a record with 48 takedown attempts in 25 minutes, continuing to put pressure on Jan and not giving the Russian a second of respite.
Merab Dvalishvili defeated Petr Yan in the UFC main event in Las Vegas.
Over five rounds, Dvalishvili set a record with 48 takedown attempts in 25 minutes, continuing to put pressure on Jan and not giving the Russian a second of respite.
When the fight ended, all three judges scored the fight 50-45, and for Dvalishvili this victory was the biggest in his career.
“Now I will show the world. Peter called me zero - who is zero now?" Dvalishvili said after his victory.
It was a stunning performance by Dvalishvili as he showed unreal preparation and pace. His strategy was no secret as he was constantly looking for takedowns, which prevented Jan from really throwing punches because he always feared that the Georgian would hunt his legs. Dvalishvili also put on a solid boxing start that seemed to take Jan by surprise as the former bantamweight champion struggled to find his footing.
Jan fired back with several hard blows to the calf, which caused a noticeable red welt to appear on Dvalishvili's leg.
For his part, Dvalishvili decided to focus some of his attention on his own calf punches, and one particular punch came with a sickening thud that made Ian immediately change position. With a potentially injured leg, Ian tried to find a way to reverse the roles, but Dvalishvili was simply relentless in his attack.
For Petr Yan, this defeat was the third in a row, he had already lost to Aljamain Sterling and Sean O'Malley. Dvalishvili, in turn, emerged victorious from the last nine fights.