And Brandon Moreno, who suffered a technical knockout defeat at the hands of Tatsuro Taira (video replay here). And let’s not forget about Henry Cejudo, who suffered a one-sided unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Payton Talbott, which prompted him to announce his retirement from the sport (again). But, which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Coming into his rematch against Petr Yan, Merab was making history by taking part in his fourth title defense in a calendar year after defending it successfully three times prior against Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley and Cory Sandhagen. Plus, he already had a lopsided win over Yan years back, so you couldn’t blame him for coming in super confident. Another win, would also extend his win streak to 15 in a row, an unprecedented run to say the least.
But, Yan came in confident himself after winning his last three fights since losing to “The Machine” in March 2023. And he showed that confidence once the opening bell rang, refusing to allow Merab to dictate the pace of the fight by preventing him from getting into his zone. For the first few rounds, Yan was able to neutralize the champion’s wrestling. As a result, the fight had to be played out on the feet.
And that is where “No Mercy” shines as one of the best strikers in the entire 135-pound weight class. Once in the championship rounds, Yan showed that he, too, has a pretty good gas tank and was able to keep his offense firing on all cylinders. Even though Dvalishvili started to have some success, in the end, Yan did enough to earn a unanimous, controversy-free decision win that allowed him to once again reclaim the title he lost to Aljamain Sterling in 2021.
For Merab, his magical run came to an end, and many (even Joe Rogan) were wondering if his performance was a result of his body being so busy over the course of the last 12 months. Regardless, all of the credit has to be given to Yan for showing out.
As far as what could be next for “The Machine,” if there was ever anyone deserving of an immediate rematch it’s him … right? As I mentioned earlier, not only has Merab been dominant, but he is without a doubt one of the most active champions ever since his title fight against Yan was his fifth in 15 months.
The series is tied at one a piece; therefore, Dvalishvili has a good case for getting the next championship fight because his dominant ways have at least earned him that. Umar Nurmagomedov is ranked No. 1 at the moment, but he already has loss against Merab and just barely got back into the win column by defeating Mario Bautista.
That said, do you think someone else is deserving of getting first crack against Yan?
