Former UFC bantamweight titleholder Merab Dvalishvili has made it clear that he’s going to wait for as long as it takes to get a trilogy fight against injured champion Petr Yan next.
The 35-year-old Dvalishvili’s three-fight title reign at 135lbs came to an end back in December when Yan got the better of him by unanimous decision.
However, Dvalishvili had been a 14-fight winning streak prior to that, including a unanimous decision win over Yan back in 2023, so while Sean O’Malley is now in the title hunt again after two wins already this year, ‘The Machine’ is certain he’s earned the right to fight for the belt again next.
“The UFC told us that there’s no interim belt or there is no other fights,” Dvalishvili told MMA Junkie Radio. “I deserve to fight Petr Yan, and I will have to wait for Petr Yan. I’m fine with that. Hopefully Petr comes soon and we will fight. If not, then however (long) he will take, I want to fight him.
“That’s the best guy in my division now, and I want to fight the best guys because everybody else, I have beaten. Petr Yan is the real challenge for me, especially that it’s 1-1 between me and him, and I’m sure everybody will be excited about our trilogy.”
That certainly makes sense given Dvalishvili’s accomplishments, and while a rematch between Yan and O’Malley is also appealing, the fact that Merab already holds two dominant wins over ‘Suga’ would appear to put him in pole position.
