Yan wasn’t impressed with Merab
Dvalishvili’s title reign.
Dvalishvili won the bantamweight title against Sean
O’Malley in 2024. “The Machine” then defended his title against
Umar
Nurmagomedov, submitted O’Malley in a rematch, and defended his
title a third time against Cory
Sandhagen — all within a year. Dvalishvili then put his title
on the line for the fourth time last year against Yan at
UFC 323 in December. Yan completely shut down Dvalishvili’s
game in every aspect and battered him down to earn a unanimous
decision win.
Yan wasn’t very impressed with Dvalishvili’s title reign,
considering he fought O’Malley twice within that span. The
bantamweight champion believes Dvalishvili didn’t even need to
prepare for his rematch against “Suga.”
Easy Money
“Two of those four fights were against Sean O’Malley,” Yan said on
“The Ariel Helwani Show.” “One time, he
basically mauled him, and the other time he choked him out with one
arm. So does it count as four? I think that he didn’t even prepare
for Sean O’Malley, honestly. He just knew he was gonna wrestle him
out.”
While Dvalishvili (21-5) defeated Yan (20-5) in their first clash
in 2023, “No Mercy” claims his hand was injured in the fight. Yan
says Dvalishvili made a grave mistake if he didn’t prepare well for
their rematch this past December.