Petr Yan set to headline March Fight Night card against Merab Dvalishvili
Petr Yan will be looking to return to the win column in March.
According to the Las Vegas Review Journal, Yan is set to headline the March 11 Fight Night card against Merab Dvalishvili. Verbal agreements are in place, according to the report with the card taking place at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas.
Petr Yan (16-4) is on a two-fight losing streak having lost a controversial split decision to Sean O’Malley back at UFC 280 and before that, lost another controversial split decision to Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight title. Prior to that, he beat Cory Sandhagen by decision at UFC 267 to win the interim title. In the fight prior, Yan had lost his bantamweight title after he was DQ’d after landing an illegal knee in the first fight against Sterling.
Yan is the former UFC bantamweight champion and won the vacant title with a fifth-round TKO over Jose Aldo. In his career, he also holds notable wins over Urijah Faber, Jimmie Rivera, John Dodson, and Douglas Silva de Andrade among others. He’s also the former ACB bantamweight champ and is currently ranked second at bantamweight.
Merab Dvalishvili (15-4) is currently ranked third at bantamweight and is on an eight-fight winning streak. Dvalishvili started out his UFC career 0-2 with a controversial split decision to Frankie Saenz and was submitted by Ricky Simon with no time left on the clock. After the two controversial losses, Dvalishvili has rallied off eight straight wins as he beat Terrion Ware, Brad Katona, Casey Kenney, Gustavo Lopez, John Dodson, Cody Stamann, Marlon Moraes, and Jose Aldo last time out. All of his wins – except for Moraes – came by decision, but this will be the first time he is set to fight five rounds in the UFC.
With Yan vs. Dvalishvili set to headline the card, the March 11 Fight Night card is as follows:
- Merab Dvalishivli vs. Petr Yan
- Abu Azaitar vs. Sedriques Dumas
- Lukasz Brzeski vs. Karl Williams
- JJ Aldrich vs. Ariane Lipski
- Raphael Assuncao vs. Kyler Phillips
