Former UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad has praised Merab Dvalishvili’s toughness at UFC 323. Dvalishvili’s fourth defense of his 135-pound championship was unsuccessful in 2025, with Petr Yan playing spoiler in the rematch.
Yan came out as the more accurate striker and bloodied the 34-year-old up. The challenger also scored his own takedowns and stopped many of Dvalishvili’s. In the end, ‘No Mercy’ secured a unanimous decision victory and with that, became a two-time bantamweight kingpin.
The commentators at UFC 323 noted that each time the Georgian took a shot to the liver, he was in excruciating pain and reacted.