Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili wants a rematch with Petr Yan at UFC 323 in December and it seems that his rival is just as eager to make that fight happen.

“I would love to fight in December,” Dvalishvili had said at the UFC 320 post-fight press conference after beating Cory Sandhagen. “I want to be busy and I don’t want to make the next contenders wait too much. I think Petr Yan is (on a) three fight win streak. He’s former champion and I think he deserve title fight. If UFC wants, I’m ready to fight in December, no problem.“

And Yan has now stated he is ready, willing and able to take up that challenge, while also adding that he wasn’t fully fit when he suffered a unanimous decision loss to Dvalishvili back in March of 2023.

“He’s the one who’s been pushing for it. If it lines up with the UFC’s plans, I believe it’s possible,” Yan told Ariel Helwani. “I’ve been waiting for this chance, and I’m ready to fight in December. I believe it’s going to be a great fight that has history. Last time I was compromised. I was only at 50 percent, so this time it will be something different. It will be a great and exciting fight.”

Yan then went into further detail about a hand injury that compromised his ability to compete at his best the last time they fought.

“If you just look at the stats of our previous fight, you can see that I only used my right hand maybe like three or four times,” Yan said. “I couldn’t punch with my right hand, I couldn’t use it to defend the wrestling. So, it’s just facts. If you compare it to my different fights, that’s the hand I use the most. I never really turn down any fights. I’ve many times competed injured. I cannot say that I don’t regret it, but now at least I have an opportunity to change it, to win the rematch.”