DVALISHVILI PROMISES YAN "TOOLS I HAVEN'T SHOWED" AT UFC 333

Merab Dvalishvili has spent 50 minutes in the cage with Petr Yan. He says the trilogy on Oct. 24 will still show Yan something new.

"He's the most dangerous guy in my weight class."

Merab Dvalishvili told UFC on Paramount+ that about Petr Yan. No trash talk, no excuses. Just respect, and a warning attached to it.

The two meet for a third time at UFC 333 on Oct. 24 in Abu Dhabi. Yan defends the bantamweight title in the co-main event.

One Win Each, Nothing Settled

Dvalishvili won the first meeting in March 2023, a unanimous decision in Las Vegas. Yan evened the score at UFC 323 last December, also by unanimous decision.

That December loss snapped a 14-fight winning streak for Dvalishvili. It also cost him the belt he had taken in 2024.

Across two fights, they have shared 50 full minutes. There are no secrets left about cardio, toughness, or heart.

What He Admits Went Wrong

Dvalishvili was honest about both fights. He said he was nervous the first time, because the Georgia-Russia backdrop made it personal for him.

The second time, he said, he did not fight his own fight. Yan's takedown defense shut down his wrestling, and the striking exchanges went Yan's way.

"I have some tools that I haven't showed."

That is his answer for the trilogy. Not more of the same pressure. New looks, mixed into the pressure Yan already knows.

He praised Yan's boxing, kicking, and cardio in the same breath. This is not a man pretending the champion has holes everywhere.

Legacy Is On The Line

A win makes Dvalishvili a two-time champion. It would also give him five wins in title fights.

Beat the man he calls the most dangerous in the division, twice in three fights, and the greatest-bantamweight debate gets very loud.

Yan knows all of this. He solved Dvalishvili once, in the fight that mattered most at the time.

So who adjusts better in Abu Dhabi — the champion who already has the answers, or the challenger who swears he has been saving new ones?