Tomorrow night in the headliner of UFC Las Vegas, we are going to see a big time matchup in the bantamweight division. Former champion Petr Yan (16-4) will take on the tough Merab Dvalishvili (15-4).
The last time we saw Yan was back in October at UFC 280 when he took on Sean O’Malley. Virtually everyone outside of two of the judges believed that Yan won the fight. However, two judges gave the fight to Suga Sean and Yan suffered his second straight defeat.
Prior to that, he lost to Dvalishvili’s teammate Aljamain Sterling in their rematch for the bantamweight title. Sure, Yan has lost two fights in a row, but he’s still one of the very best in the world. Dvalishvili is looking to show that he belongs in that conversation as well.
It was a really rocky start for Dvalishvili in the UFC. Two straight losses including getting finished, however, he kept working and now he’s won eight fights in a row. His last fight came last August against Jose Aldo where he earned the biggest win of his career.
UFC Las Vegas Prediction
Listen, we know exactly what Dvalishvili is going to try and do tomorrow night. He’s going to come heavy with the pressure and he’s going to try and have a suffocating wrestling attack that earns him a decision. He’s not going to strike with Petr Yan.
If he tries to strike with Petr Yan, I think Dvalishvili could easily get finished tomorrow night. Dvalishvili has decent striking and has a crazy pace, but he’s very hittable and we’ve seen him wobbled inside the octagon. The former UFC champion just needs to hold his own in the grappling and have enough striking exchanges to get his offense off.
I think in the middle rounds, Yan is going to find some big success with his boxing combinations. Dvalishvili won’t go down easily, but I have Petr Yan in this one.
Prediction: Petr Yan by TKO – Round 3