Merab Dvalishvili has openly discussed his defeat in a recent interview with a prominent MMA figure. The Georgian fighter lost his bantamweight championship to Petr Yan in a rematch at UFC 323, after a dominant year where he successfully defended his title three times.
Following his successful title defenses, the promotion had committed to granting Dvalishvili an immediate rematch once Yan was ready.
During a conversation with Demetrious Johnson, Dvalishvili reflected on his loss at UFC 323. He admitted that his training camp was not specifically tailored for Yan, and acknowledged that despite his “Machine” moniker, he is indeed human and capable of defeat.
“My nickname is Machine, but I’m a human being sometimes. Against Petr, I think also what happened was that I think I can beat everybody that day, maybe except Petr. Because Petr was really training for me. And his style is different, and he’s this tough, tough fighter. Everybody else, I think I can beat. Any striker or any other fighter in my weight class except Petr… I made some mistakes during training camp… I was just doing my thing, pushing the limit, and just doing a lot of grappling rounds.”
Dvalishvili also noted that in the rematch, Yan managed to secure takedowns and effectively defended against Dvalishvili’s submission attempts. The failed submission attempts proved costly, as Yan was able to capitalize with takedowns and land significant strikes.
More recently, Dvalishvili sustained a broken nose during training but has opted against surgery, planning to address it only after his retirement. In contrast, Yan has recovered from his own surgery and has returned to training, suggesting a potential third encounter between the two fighters later this year.
