LAS VEGAS – Petr Yan is confident, yet he knows a tall task is in front of him.
Ahead of his UFC 323 title challenge Saturday, Yan (19-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) remains firm that a second meeting vs. Merab Dvalishvili (21-4 MMA, 14-2 UFC) will go much differently than the lopsided unanimous decision he lost in March 2023.
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“My camp went really great,” Yan told MMA Junkie and other reporters through a Russian language interpreter at a pre-fight news conference Wednesday. “I feel great. Right now, myself, I can’t wait until Saturday to show what I can really do. … It’s no question about the fact that Merab is a great warrior. He showed with his fights that he’s a deserving champion, and he deserves to be where he’s at. But I also want to say that with my fights and my performances, I showed that there is no other clear No. 1 contender as opposed to me. I deserve to be the No. 1 contender, and I’m ready and able to fight for this title.”
Yan is no stranger to rematches. He fought Magomed Magomedov twice in ACB and Aljamain Sterling twice in UFC title fights. He understands the differences in preparation and says he learned much about Dvalishvili during their first outing.
“Obviously, we have a lot of information that we’ve downloaded about each other,” Yan said. “We know each other better. But if you look at my first two rematches with Magomedov and Sterling, you could see that I’m 100 percent better in the second fight. So I’m determined to make sure I’m much better in this second fight against Merab.”
There was plenty of bad blood between Yan and Dvalishvili the first time they fought, but it appears there’s more respect in the build-up to the rematch. Given Dvalishvili’s historic run, Yan has no choice but to tip his cap in the Georgian’s direction. After all, the more credit he gives Dvalishvili, the better a win would look Saturday at T-Mobile Arena.
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“It would be silly for me to try to say that’s not the case, to try to take away from his accomplishments,” Yan said. “No, the facts are facts. If you look at paper, he’s one of the greatest. But for me, that’s also motivation, something that shows me I need to push myself further and show what I can do. … Imagine this Saturday, ‘No Mercy’ beats this great Merab. What I feel like, huh?”
Given Dvalishvili’s credentials and the all-time championship run he’s on, Yan didn’t hesitate when asked if he’d return the favor and give him an immediate rematch.
“I think Merab deserves any rematch that he wants, whether he calls it out or the UFC calls it out,” Yan said. “I think he deserves a rematch. If I do win, I think that it would be a really cool trilogy to put that third fight together.”
This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Petr Yan weighs in on whether he’d entertain Merab Dvalishvili trilogy
