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Petr Yan Beats Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333 With Three 48-47 Scorecards
Yan retained his bantamweight title in Abu Dhabi after rallying against Dvalishvili in their five-round trilogy fight.
Petr Yan retained the UFC bantamweight championship Saturday by beating Merab Dvalishvili via unanimous decision in the UFC 333 co-main event at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.
All three judges scored the five-round contest 48-47 for Yan, giving the champion the deciding victory in their trilogy. The UFC’s official main-card report confirmed the identical totals after a bout that went the full 25 minutes.
Dvalishvili pressed the action early and repeatedly forced Yan to defend takedown attempts. Yan’s offense improved in the third round, including attacks to the body, before he found more success standing in the fourth and continued landing the stronger shots in the fifth, according to the promotion’s account.
The result kept the bantamweight title with Yan against the former champion, whose pressure and wrestling made the opening portion difficult. A unanimous verdict means every judge selected the same winner; the one-point margins show how little separated the final totals.
Yan’s title defense was one of two on the Abu Dhabi card. The event also featured Alexander Volkanovski against Movsar Evloev for the featherweight championship. Yan’s victory resolved his own assignment on the scorecards rather than through a stoppage.
