UFC Fight Night 221 (Yan vs. Dvalishvili)
The UFC will be invading The Theatre at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday March 11th for UFC Fight Night 221. The main event will have major title implications in the bantamweight division as former champion #2 Petr Yan will battle #3 Merab Dvalishvili.
Yan is trying to rebound from two straight losses both coming by split decision, with the last being to fan-favorite Sean O’Malley at UFC 280 in October. The Russian fighter is 1-3 in his last four fights but he has strong arguments that he won the two split decisions and the first loss came by disqualification.
While the fight does hold title implications, it is also driven by a personal battle between Yan and Dvalishvili. Yan responded to the back and forth between the two on social media. “I think he doesn’t have any other way to bring attention to himself,” Yan said. “He cannot do it with his fights. In his fights, all he does is, like a dog, take the leg and push his opponents up to the cage. So he’s just trying to get a little attention or something. No one is interested in him.”
“I was leaving the hotel to training at the PI, and he came up to me and he was asking for a cross interview with ‘The Schmo’ to promote the fight, but like I mentioned, no one is interested in Merab. And I’m not interested in promoting him either. He tries to push himself too hard. He tries to force himself on being a fan favorite, but it never works out that way. The way he acts off-camera is different. The way he acts on-camera is a different way. When there’s no camera he’s not saying much.”
Despite the bitterness he might feel for his opponent, Yan knows a win on Saturday is exactly what he needs, claiming Dvalishvili is a “good name to beat,” after accumulating eight straight wins in the UFC.
Yan has key victories in his career over Corey Sandhagen, Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, Jimmie Rivera and John Dodson. While he is still in the title conversation, a third straight loss would put Yan in a compromised position and the path back to the title would be unclear.
There is plenty happening at the top of the bantamweight division with champion Aljamain Sterling set to fight former champion Henry Cejudo who will be coming out of retirement at UFC 288. Cejudo’s return leaves #1 contender Sean O’Malley sitting and waiting for top contender fights to unfold. #4 Marlon Vera fights #5 Corey Sandhagen on March 25th and the winner of that fight will be clamoring for a title shot. So, Yan cannot afford to fall back into the middle of that pack.
Dvalishvili has won eight straight fights and is coming off of a unanimous decision victory over legend Jose Aldo at UFC 278 in August. The Georgian has proclaimed this fight to be about much more than he and Yan. “I have many reasons,” Dvalishvili said. “First, this fight is not only a fight. It’s personal to me. He’s from Russia, I’m from Georgia. We all know Russia what they’re doing to Ukraine now, what they did to Georgia. Russia is not a (politically) democratic country. I know I want to win for my people. I have so much support from my country and so much support from Ukraine, too.’
Despite the bad blood, Dvalishvili does respect Yan’s MMA skills. “Petr is a great fighter. He is a former champion. We all know he’s tough. As a fighter, he’s a great fighter. He’s dangerous. He doesn’t have holes anywhere. He’s a good striker. He is a good striker. He defends wrestling good. His cardio is good. This is my toughest fight. And I have other reasons. I think he’s a great fighter, a good family guy, but he’s not a humble guy. He’s not a great human. It doesn’t matter how good of a fighter you are, you have to be a good person.”
There is no doubt that with a win on Saturday Dvalishvili has a great case for being the next to challenge for the title. However, he has long stated that he will not fight Sterling who is his close training partner. If Sterling defeats O’Malley at UFC 288, what does Dvalishvili do? The 32-year-old must first focus on Yan who remains one of the most well-rounded bantamweights in the UFC.
The rest of the main card:
Heavyweight - #8 Alexander Volkov vs. #13Alexander Romanov
Catchweight (215 lb) - #6 Nikita Krylov vs. #8 Ryan Spann
Featherweight - Ricardo Ramos vs. Austin Lingo
Bantamweight - #14 Said Nurmagomedov vs. Jonathan Martinez
Light Heavyweight – Vitor Petrino vs. Anton Turkalj
ESPN + Prelims:
Heavyweight - Karl Williams vs. Łukasz Brzeski
Bantamweight - Raphael Assunção vs. Davey Grant
Middleweight - Sedriques Dumas vs. Josh Fremd
Bantamweight - Mario Bautista vs. Guido Cannetti
Women's Flyweight - Ariane Lipski vs. JJ Aldrich
Bantamweight - Victor Henry vs. Tony Gravely
Flyweight - #15 Tyson Nam vs. Bruno Gustavo da Silva
