Petr Yan defeated favorite Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323 in Las Vegas, ending the Georgian’s winning streak at 14.
Published December 7, 2025
At UFC 323 on Saturday night, Petr Yan defeated Merab Dvalishvili with a dominant effort to win the bantamweight title by unanimous decision.
With punishing blows and several crushing kicks to the ribcage, Yan (20-5) ended Dvalishvili’s winning streak at 14.
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
“I’m very happy to be able to stand here holding the championship belt. Thank you to all the fans,” Yang said through an interpreter. “I worked hard and prepared hard for this moment.”
Dvalishvili (21-5) hasn’t lost since April 21, 2018, when Ricky Simon won by submission. This was his fourth title match in 2025.
Yan avenged his previous loss, when Dvalishvili defeated the 32-year-old Yan by unanimous decision on March 11, 2023, on a UFC Fight Night card.
Dvalishvili, 34, closed as a -425 favorite. This means bettors wagered between $425 and $100 at BetMGM. A person who bet $100 on Yang would have won $320.
“We lost today,” Dvalishvili said. “Congratulations to him.”
In the co-main event, challenger Joshua Bunn won the flyweight belt from former champion Alexandre Pantoja with a TKO just 26 seconds into the first round after a bizarre finish.
In what appeared to be a freak accident, Pantoja (30-6) injured his left shoulder shortly after delivering a right round kick to Bunn’s head. But when Vann (16-2) blocked the kick, Pantoja used his left arm to support his fall. His arm was broken, but he quickly grabbed it and waved to referee Herb Dean to stop the fight at 26 seconds.
In a show of sportsmanship, Vann immediately joined Pantoja on the canvas to check on him once the fight was called.
