Merab Dvalishvili has no time to waste in his pursuit of UFC history.
The reigning bantamweight champion is already set to return after recently defending his title against Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320 on Oct. 4. Following that win, Dvalishvili campaigned for the opportunity to make history and become the first UFC champion to ever secure four successful title defenses in a calendar year. That wish was granted Monday when UFC CEO Dana White announced that Dvalishvili’s rematch against Petr Yan is official for UFC 323 on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas.
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As fate would have it, Dvalishvili was in the middle of analyzing a potential Yan rematch live in-studio on Monday’s edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show” when he was blindsided by the news.
“I had no idea,” Dvalishvili told Uncrowned. “[UFC] never guarantee you. He said he will try his best and told me that Petr Yan don’t have his visa. That’s what they told me.
“They ask you if you’re ready, if you want [to fight], then they wait. Even the Sean O’Malley fight, [my] first title fight, they know I wanted to fight for the belt, they just call me, ‘Congratulations, you are fighting for the belt,’ and one hour later, they announced [it].”
With the Dvalishvili’s fourth fight of 2025 already right around the corner, the 34-year-old said he’ll depart New York for Las Vegas tonight and return right to training. Despite quick turnaround, “The Machine” went as far as to add that he’s willing to turn around again and fight in March 2026, too.
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“I’m not afraid to lose something. I know I’m not going to win all these fights,” he said. “When I have a fight, I’m more focused, a little more healthy lifestyle.”
Dvalishvili’s latest fight with Sandhagen went the full five rounds, but saw the champion leave unscathed after dominating most of the action. While his coach, John Wood, spoke last week about how he’d like to see his fighter slow down in fight frequency, Wood also acknowledged that the continuation of Dvalishvili’s torrid pace wasn’t going to surprise him if the December fight came to fruition.
For Dvalishvili, there’s a new freedom of sorts he’s found as champion. He gets to call the shots, but not in the typical sense of picking and choosing. The Georgian said he knows he can now be allowed this unprecedented activity level thanks to the promotion’s constant need for fighting champions.
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“Now that I’m champion, I find that I can push the fights and they can keep me busy,” Dvalishvili said. “Another good thing is to be champion, because when you’re just regular fighter, you just wait. You’re sitting, if you can fight in six months, this is the best. Now I can call, ‘I want to fight. Just keep me busy.’
“I go to [UFC CBO] Hunter Campbell’s office and I talk to him, I said, ‘Hunter, please, if there’s any chance [to fight in December], I want to fight whoever.’ I think Petr Yan deserves it more and I think he’s ready.”
Dvalishvili has moved in such a rapid pace atop the bantamweight division that Yan won’t even be his first rematch as champion; he also halted Sean O’Malley for a second time during in his 2025 stretch of title defenses.
Dvalishvili and Yan’s first encounter in March 2023 is most infamously remembered for Dvalishvili stifling Yan in a five-round trouncing that set the UFC’s all-time takedown attempts record with 49 in single bout. Yan has since claimed to have been compromised by a broken hand in the fight, which he believes is why he lost in the lopsided fashion he did.
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Now riding a three-fight win streak following their first fight, the onus will be on Yan to prove he’s better than before, and Dvalishvili can’t wait.
“Same thing like Sean O’Malley [said before our rematch] — he will be better, and I finish him,” Dvalishvili said. “Same thing. It’s good for me that Petr says he was 50% [for the first fight].
“Listen, as a fighter, I know he’s dangerous, he’s tough. He’s a good fighter. We all know he’s coming off a very good winning streak. He deserves [the title shot] the most now, it’s a quick turnaround, going to be a great fight, and we all know one punch and one little mistake can change anything, especially against Petr Yan.
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“I’m just going to train hard and I will be ready for war. But I believe I can make it look easy.”
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To go above and beyond Dvalishvili’s usual activity extremes — if his unreal in-cage cardio wasn’t enough — he spars as often as possible. Sometimes, like in the case of the Sandhagen fight, right up until it’s time to make the walk.
So if any more evidence was needed that Dvalishvili may truly be unstoppable, there you have it.
“I did sparring, full sparring [just hours before my title fight]. … Usually, me and [former UFC champion Aljamain Sterling], we’ll do the morning shakeout,” Dvalishvili said. “It’s kind of sparring, drilling wrestling, but usually, we go in hotel. This time, the fight was in Vegas and I was lucky enough to go to my gym. We have an Octagon there.
“[My coaches] trust me. … I do spar [five rounds three times a week] — Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. It’s open sparring [on Saturday], but I always go.”
