Merab Dvalishvili lost the bantamweight title in a rematch with Petr Yan late last year, and that’s led to his coach John Wood rethinking their strategic approach as he looks to get right back to winning ways.

Dvalishvili had been on a 14-fight winning streak prior to that loss, with no one finding answer to his relentless takedown game and stellar conditioning.

However, despite having beaten Yan before during that run, in their rematch Dvalishvili was more willing to engage Yan on the feet than usual, and clearly came off second best over five rounds.

There’s no doubt that Yan deserves a lot of credit for his excellent performance that night, but Wood believes that Dvalishvili would have done better if they’d just focused on what he’s good at, rather than trying to add new strings to his bow.

“Merab is the type of guy where, if you tell him to do something, he’ll do it,” Wood told Home Of Fight. “I think we focused a little too much on chasing finishes, breaking guys, and looking for knockouts. When really, Merab just needs to go be Merab. That’s on me to make sure he sticks to what he does best.”

It’s understandable why Dvalishvili’s team were trying to push him further after such a long winning run, trying to find new ways to evolve his style and keep him focused and hungry at this stage in his career.

Finishes has always been something that’s been lacking in Dvalishvili’s game as only 5 of his 21 career wins have come inside the distance, but it’s clear it’s not something that comes naturally to him.

It feels like there is something to be said for still trying to round out his game more, particularly on the mat, where improving his ability to control the action on top could be very beneficial to make the most of his frequent takedowns.

However, while improvements technically on the feet would also be of use, it seems sensible to accept that it’s not wise to go toe-to-toe with a seasoned striker like Yan.

Of course, whether Merab going back to his wrestling roots will be enough to overcome an in-form, confident Yan remains to be seen.