Petr Yan earned revenge against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323, finally solving the Georgian’s puzzle to regain the bantamweight title and halt the champion’s dominant run.
Two years after losing a clear decision to Dvalishvili, Yan produced a phenomenal, well-rounded performance to outpoint the “Machine” and become a two-time undisputed champion.
Yan previously held the title from 2020 until 2021, then the interim belt from 2021 to 2022, with each reign ending in defeat by Aljamain Sterling. Not long after his second loss to Sterling, Yan fought the Jamaican-American’s teammate Dvalishvili, who overcame the Russian as part of a 14-fight win streak dating back to 2018 – a run that took Dvalishvili to the title in 2024.
And after outpointing Umar Nurmagomedov and Cory Sandhagen in 2025, either side of a submission of rival Sean O’Malley, Dvalishvili made history at UFC 323: becoming the first UFC fighter to attempt four title defences in a calendar year.
He could not make it four wins from four fights, though; Yan outstruck the Georgian and hurt him to the body multiple times, while also showing off great wrestling defensively and offensively.
Yan ultimately earned a unanimous-decision win (49-46, 49-46, 48-47), potentially setting up the 32-year-old for a trilogy fight with the Machine, 34.
The main event followed Alexandre Pantoja’s flyweight title defence against Joshua Van, which ended in abrupt and unexpected fashion after just 26 seconds.
Pantoja, who had been similarly dominant to Dvalishvili atop his division, threw a head kick at Van, who caught the strike and shoved the Brazilian to the canvas. In trying to post, Pantoja injured his left arm and was unable to continue.
With that, Myanmar’s Van became the UFC’s youngest-active champion at just 24 years old – and the second-youngest ever, behind only Jon Jones.
UFC 323 results in full
Petr Yan def. Merab Dvalishvili via unanimous decision (49-46, 49-46, 48-47)
Joshua Van def. Alexandre Pantoja via first-round TKO (injury, 0:26)
Tatsuro Taira def. Brandon Moreno via second-round TKO (ground and pound, 2:24)
Payton Talbott def. Henry Cejudo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Jan Blachowicz and Bogdan Guskov fight to majority draw (29-28, 28-28, 28-28)
Manuel Torres def. Grant Dawson via first-round TKO (punches, 2:25)
Chris Duncan def. Terrance McKinney via first-round submission (Anaconda choke, 2:30)
Maycee Barber def. Karine Silva via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
Fares Ziam def. Nazim Sadykhov via second-round TKO (elbows, 5:00)
Brunno Ferreira def. Marvin Vettori via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Jalin Turner def. Edson Barboza via first-round TKO (punches, 2:24)
Iwo Baraniewski def. Ibo Aslan via first-round KO (punches, 1:29)
Mansur Abdul-Malik def. Antonio Trocoli via first-round submission (guillotine choke, 1:09)
Mairon Santos def. Muhammad Naimov via third-round TKO (punches, 0:21)
