Things got heated between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili during their final face-off on Friday.
The two top-five bantamweight contenders are set to square off in a high-stakes main event matchup on Saturday night in Las Vegas. Ahead of the contest, Yan and Dvalishvili went face-to-face following their official UFC weigh-in and things got a little chippy between the two, particularly when Dvalishvilli called his opponent a “b*tch.” ‘No Mercy’ clearly did not like the comment and responded by shoving his opponent.
Dvalishvili brandished a smile as they were quickly pulled apart to prevent any further incident. Yan is a fighter typically known for keeping his cool, but it’s clear that Dvalishvili’s comments leading up to the bout have gotten under the Russian’s skin.
Petr Yan Looks to Get Back Into the Win Column After Dropping Two of His Last Three
Despite dropping three of his last four bouts, Petr Yan enters Saturday’s main event as a moderate -260 favorite per DraftKings. To be fair, his last three losses have all come under massive scrutiny. His UFC 259 matchup against Aljamain Sterling ended when ‘No Mercy’ threw an illegal knee in the fourth round, resulting in his disqualification. He bounced back with a solid unanimous decision win over Cory Sandhagen but has since lost back-to-back bouts against Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley via highly-debatable split decisions.
On the other hand, Merab Dvalishvili enters the bout on an eight-fight win streak that includes victories over John Dodson, Cody Stamann, Marlon Moraes, and Jose Aldo. A victory over Yan will likely put him in pole position for a UFC bantamweight world title opportunity, once the promotion untangles the knot that is Aljamain Sterling, Henry Cejudo, and Sean O’Malley.
