Petr Yan defeated Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 323, overturning the result of their previous meeting to reclaim the UFC bantamweight title. Two years after losing a clear decision to the Georgian, Yan produced a well-rounded performance to outpoint the champion and become a two-time undisputed champion.
Dvalishvili entered the contest having beaten Umar Nurmagomedov and Cory Sandhagen in 2025, either side of a submission win over Sean O'Malley. By headlining UFC 323, he became the first UFC fighter to attempt four title defences in a calendar year, but he could not make it four wins from four fights.
Yan outstruck Dvalishvili and landed repeated body shots, while also demonstrating strong wrestling in both defence and attack to end the champion's dominant run.
Earlier, Alexandre Pantoja's flyweight title reign ended abruptly in the co-main event. Less than 30 seconds into his defence against Joshua Van, the Brazilian suffered an arm injury and was unable to continue.
Elsewhere on the card, Brunno Ferreira outpointed Marvin Vettori, Jalin Turner stopped Edson Barboza in the first round, and Iwo Baraniewski knocked out Ibo Aslan. Mansur Abdul-Malik submitted Antonio Trocoli, Mairon Santos stopped Muhammad Naimov in the third round, and Manuel Torres halted Grant Dawson. Chris Duncan submitted Terrance McKinney, Maycee Barber earned a unanimous decision over Karine Silva, and Fares Ziam stopped Nazim Sadykhov in the second round.
