Merab Dvalishvili has issued an upbeat statement following his unsuccessful attempt to win back the bantamweight title from Petr Yan at UFC 333 on Saturday night.

“Good day everyone!” Dvalishvili wrote on X. “First and foremost I want to thank God for he has truly blessed me and I am grateful! Next I want to thank my cornermen @funkmasterMMA @daveygrantMMA @zviadlazishvili @bigwoodmma for their help and dedication. I am grateful for my Vegas teammates and training partners who always showed up and pushed me to great limits. Also big thanks to my New York team @mattserraUFC and @TrainingDayWRay and all my New York / Long Island Boys.

“Thank you to the @ufc for always giving me these opportunities! Last but certainly not least – my family, friends and fans – your support and love means the world to me ! I cannot wait to be back in that cage doing what I love to do ! I am healthy and motivated and will be back soon ! This Machine never breaks! See you all soon.”

The 35-year-old Dvalishvili had started off his trilogy fight against Yan strongly as his relentless pressure, takedown attempts and active striking forced Yan to abandon offense in favor of defense in the first two rounds. However, Yan then began to completely shut down his takedown attempts and get his striking game going, leading him to an eventual unanimous decision victory after five hard fought rounds.

That was Dvalishvili’s second loss in a row to Yan, but prior to that he had gone on a remarkable 14-fight winning streak that included three successful defenses of the 135lb title.