Merab Dvalishvili was clearly excited but also delightfully taken aback that he will be fighting at UFC 323. This was an expressed wish from ‘The Machine’ who wanted to rematch Petr Yan in December to get one more fight in during this highly active 2025 run of his.
The UFC bantamweight champion found out about this next in-cage assignment live on air during his in-studio appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show. Dana White did a video address announcing Dvalishvili vs. Yan 2 and the 135 pound kingpin now has a chance to embark on a fourth title defense in a single calendar year, which is an unprecedented feat.