Merab Dvalishvili

Merab Dvalishvili lived up to his nickname as "The Machine," attempting a UFC record 49 takedowns and sweeping the scorecards in a unanimous-decision win ...

"He is my brother and the world champion," Dvalishvili said of Sterling, who was in his corner on Saturday. He is a close friend and training partner of defending champion He turned every second of the bout into a grinding affair, attacking Yan with leg kicks, jabs, right hands, knees from the clinch and elbows. Dvalishvili, who has a Georgian flag tattooed on his chest due to the UFC's recent restriction of fighters walking to the Octagon with their country's flag, made it a point to speak out against Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine. He attempted a UFC-record 49 takedowns, shattering the previous record of 33 set by former heavyweight champion All three judges scored the 135-pound bout a 50-45 shutout for Dvalishvili, who came in as a 2-1 betting underdog.

The MMA community was blown away by Merab Dvalishvili's one-sided win over Petr Yan in the UFC Fight Night 221 main event.

Merab Dvalishvili literally looks like he could fight 20 rounds tonight. He really is a machine. It's honestly exhausting to watch. The UFC record is 33 by Cain Velasquez vs. elite balance. Elite cardio vs. [March 12, 2023] After three rounds, Merab Dvalishvili is at 29 takedown attempts. [March 11, 2023]

Two of the best bantamweights today fight for relevancy in the UFC bantamweight title picture.

Yan is one of the best bantamweight boxers in terms of technique and power. The gap in skill between Dvalishvili and Yan is wider in the striking department. The way he acts on camera is a different way. "I think he doesn't have any other way to bring attention to himself," Yan said. Romanov is coming off the first loss of his career last August after starting out with a 16-fight win streak. An enraged Yan contemplated leaving the UFC after his questionable loss to O'Malley, but he reeled in the emotions ahead of the Dvalishvili fight. Dvalishvili has been unusually provocative in the lead-up to the fight. The Russian finds himself with consecutive losses for the first time in his career and the looming threat of his first losing streak should he falter on Saturday. Yan (16-4) remains one of the best bantamweights on the planet but finds himself in desperate need of a turnaround after back-to-back split-decision losses to UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling and Sean O'Malley. The way he acts off-camera is different. "He's a great fighter. Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili are trying to stay afloat in the shark-infested bantamweight waters.

Stay up to date with what's happening today at UFC Vegas 71, which is not going down from APEX facility, rather The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, ...

This time, he was able to take the back with ample time left on the clock. Later on in the round, Gravely went back to the takedown and was able to get it. A massive up kick to the face from Silva opened up the second stanza, sending a dazed Nam to the canvas. The lockdown top pressure was then engaged, and Harris proceeded to own Gooden on the mat. Assunção shot in for the takedown to open the second stanza, but Grant fought hard to remain vertical and get back to open space. Aldrich then got really close to a takedown, but the defense of Lipski continued to be there late in the fight. Fremd stung Dumas again early in the second round, and then hit a beautiful whizzer kick to get on top. Turkalj went to the back again, but it was only a matter of time before Petrino reversed him yet again. Somehow, Turkalj grappled his way to the back, but again was unable to hold the position. After a series of spinning kicks from Cannetti, Bautista shot in and took the fight down to the ground. It took less than a minute for Nurmagomedov to hit a takedown in the second round. Krylov went for a guillotine of his own, and then found himself on the back.

Get Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili full fight video highlights for the UFC Las Vegas main event on Saturday.

[#UFCLasVegas] [pic.twitter.com/FJqtcVK6fT] [March 12, 2023] [#UFCLasVegas] [pic.twitter.com/LlIhOyTikJ] [March 12, 2023] [Petr Yan](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/4437/petr-yan) vs.

Dvalishvili's relentless offense was too much for Yan to deal with over the course of 25 minutes.

"He is my brother and he is the real champion," Dvalishvili said of Sterling during his post-fight interview from The Theater at Virgin Hotels. There is a predicament if Dvalishvili and Sterling continue to excel. Dvalishvili blew past the record for takedowns attempted in a single UFC fight, trying an astounding 49 takedowns and securing 11. Dvalishvili overwhelmed Yan with wrestling and striking to take a one-sided decision over the former UFC bantamweight champion. Dvalishvili (16-4) extended his winning streak to nine and will likely be ranked No. Big moments were few and far between in the fight, but Dvalishvili wobbled Yan with a leg kick in Round 2 and had Yan's eye swollen completely shut by the time the fight wrapped.

What's next for Dvalishvili and other big winners in Vegas? Our crew breaks down and analyze the results from Saturday night.

[Ryan Spann](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/3887606/ryan-spann). [Mario Bautista](https://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/4410868/mario-bautista), bantamweight [Ricky Simon](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/3922491/ricky-simon) on April 22 [Jon Jones](https://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2335639/jon-jones) in his next bout. [Cory Sandhagen](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/4294504/cory-sandhagen) on March 25 UFC president Dana White didn't love the most recent performances by Magomed Anakalaev or [Jan Blachowicz](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2506250/jan-blachowicz). He was ranked just ahead of Volkov going into this weekend, and he's coming off an impressive win over [Derrick Lewis](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2560713/derrick-lewis). [Aljamain Sterling](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/3031559/aljamain-sterling)), Dvalishvili set a UFC record with 49 takedown attempts, breaking the mark held previously by [Cain Velasquez](https://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2335654/cain-velasquez) with 33. [Demetrious Johnson](https://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/2512089/demetrious-johnson) for the fourth most in any division. If the UFC wants a fun addition to a pay-per-view card, Tuivasa always fits the bill and Volkov would be an appropriate dance partner. So, Dvalishvili will be asked to defend his spot in line, which will be against the winner of Vera and Sandhagen. A performance like this begs the question: What's next for the big winner?

LAS VEGAS — Seconds into his important bantamweight bout with Petr Yan, Merab Dvalishvili gave away his game plan: He pushed a relentless pace, ...

After UFC Fight Night 221, Merab Dvalishvili explains why his position as top contender isn't that awkward after all.

I would love to fight the winner of them,” Dvalishvili said. I think the winner of this, if they had to fight me, let’s see what the UFC chooses. I don’t think right now. Actually, Aljo was saying he wants to go watch this fight and I would love to go, too. I don’t want to make any changes right now. “I want to be busy, and I’ll fight anybody. I want to be busy. I don’t use water loads. It’s possible for me to make 125 but I don’t see why I should do that right now.” I don’t use a hot tub. This a good problem to have: two best friends, two teammates. This is a good problem to have.

Dvalishvili opened the fight by putting pressure on the former UFC bantamweight champion and never took his foot off the gas. In the first two rounds of the ...

In short, Gooden, who was released from the UFC in 2021 after going 1-3, might be one and done during his second run with the promotion. Grant did not end up in a superior position because of the fence grab. Dumas left himself open for counters by overthrowing his strikes and had little to offer his opponent Josh Fremd on the mat. If he had ended up in a controlling position on top of Assuncao, restarting on the feet would have been the correct call. Putting the fighters back in the open and standing rewarded Grant by putting him in a neutral position rather than a defensive spot. The commentary team said Grant was in top position when the fight was paused. I’m not complaining about the earlier start time, but the idea that the UFC is willing to switch things up for a “sport” with Carlston Harris: Carlston Harris struggled a bit in the striking department during the first round of his bout opposite Jared Gooden. Merab Dvalishvili: Someone might look at Merab Dvalishvili’s stats for his UFC Vegas 71 win over Petr Yan and point out the number of significant strikes Dvalishvili did not connect on or the amount of takedowns he failed to secure. The two combined for three submission attempts, three takedowns and 12 significant strikes before Krylov wrapped things up with a triangle choke at 3:38 of the first stanza. The 29-year-old picked up his third straight first-round finish by forcing Cannetti to tap to a rear-naked choke. In the first two rounds of the five-round contest, Dvalishvili attempted 142 significant strikes and 15 takedowns.

When the two finally met in the octagon, Dvalishvili was determined to stand and strike with the fighter most considered to be a superior striker. But in the ...

“I want to be busy and I will fight anybody. This is a good problem to have – to best friends and teammates. I do my old style where I don’t do hot tub, I don’t water load, I just do my thing, and I make weight. I love fighters because they’re all humble and good people, and I don’t think this guy is a very good guy.” “I was just worried that I was going to show up,” Dvalishvili said. “I should just do my thing, and after that thing, it made me a little more calm. “I wanted to show up and not have any accidents happen, and I had extra pressure to represent my country, my people, my team, and we were working so hard. If Sterling moves up to featherweight after a title defense against [Henry Cejudo](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/2186/henry-cejudo) at [UFC 288](https://www.mmafighting.com/fight-card/1374/ufc-288), a conflict could be avoided. “After this, I was like, ‘This guy’s really stupid, and he’s a bully,’” Dvalishvili said. But in the end, it was his wrestling that stymied the ex-champ and led to a shutout on judges’ scorecards. Dvalishvili set a new UFC record for takedown attempts, trying 49 times to put Yan on the mat. “He should not look over others.

Merab The Machine Dvalishvili passed his biggest test with flying colours as he won every round in his main event victory over Petr Yan.

In a shock to very few, the fight between Nikita Krylov and Ryan Spann ended without the need for the judges' scorecards. In this sport the young often eat the old, will the old dog Dominick Cruz pull out a victory? 7 & No. A scrappy whirlwind of a fight ended after Spann followed Krylov to the ground and was immediately caught in a triangle choke by the Ukrainian, which takes his winning streak to three and will keep his ranking in the top 10, but finding his next opponent will not be easy in a top-heavy and confusing light-heavyweight division. That puts Martinez on a five-fight win streak with a record of 18-4 and now the 28-year-old should be expecting to wake up with a number next to his name, much like Bautista finding an opponent for Martinez at bantamweight isn't an issue however finding the right opponent for him is a slightly trickier task. Now is his time to take a step up in his career but the bantamweight division is packed with talented athletes looking for an opportunity, so while finding an opponent is easy finding the right opponent is a different challenge.

Merab Dvalishvili attempted a historic number of takedowns in his dominant win over Petr Yan in the UFC Fight Night 221 headliner.

[Josh Fremd](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/josh-fremd) (10-4 MMA, 1-2 UFC) has earned eight of his 10 career victories by stoppage. [JJ Aldrich](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/jj-aldrich) (11-6 MMA, 7-5 UFC) fell to 4-4 since she moved up to the UFC women’s flyweight division in March 2019. [UFC Fight Night 221](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/ufc-fight-night-221). [UFC](http://www.ufcstats.com) research analyst and live statistics producer Michael Carroll contributed to this story. [Bruno Silva](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/bruno-silva) (13-6-2 MMA, 3-2 UFC) has earned all three of his UFC victories by stoppage. [Victor Henry](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/victor-henry) (23-6 MMA, 2-1 UFC) has earned both of his UFC victories by decision. [UFC Fight Night 221](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/events/ufc-fight-night-221-march-11), which took place at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. He’s finished currently 22 of those wins in Round 1. [Davey Grant](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/davey-grant) (14-6 MMA, 6-5 UFC) has earned 12 of his 14 career victories by stoppage. [Mario Bautista](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/mario-bautista) (12-2 MMA, 6-2 UFC) has earned nine of his 12 career victories by stoppage. [Nikita Krylov](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/nikita-krylov) (29-9 MMA, 11-7 UFC) has earned 27 of his 29 career victories by stoppage. [Alexander Volkov](https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/tag/alexander-volkov) (36-10 MMA, 10-4 UFC) has earned 27 of his 36 career victories by stoppage.