Local champion goes for a record fourth title defense in a single year at UFC 323

UFC president Dana White hasn’t always approved of the choices made by his promotion’s current bantamweight champion, Merab Dvalishvili.

A contentious relationship between the pair began years ago when the now 34-year-old Dvalishvili was adamant he would never fight best friend/training partner Aljamain Sterling despite the latter then holding the championship in his weight class. Even after that hurdle was cleared with Sterling losing the belt and moving up in weight, White took exception to some of Dvalishvili’s social media antics over the years.

So, when Dvalishvili immediately began campaigning for another title defense before the end of the year after defeating Cory Sandhagen in October at T-Mobile Arena, some expected White to be dismissive of the idea. Instead, White shocked many with his receptiveness.

“I love guys that want to fight all the time, especially if they’re world champions,” White said.

White lived up to his word and granted “The Machine” his wish. Dvalishvili, a Las Vegas resident who trains out of Syndicate MMA, will face Brazilian rival Petr Yan in the main event of UFC 323 on December 6 at T-Mobile.

Dvalishvili (21-4 MMA, 14-2 UFC) will look to become the first fighter in UFC history to defend his title four times in a calendar year. Only seven fighters have done it three times as champions typically prefer to space out their bouts and compete a maximum of twice per year.

“I want to be busy,” Dvalishvili said. “I don’t want to make the next contenders wait. (Yan is on) a three-fight win streak. He’s a former champion and I believe he deserves the fight.”

UFC 323 sets up as a historic event for more than Dvalishvili’s prolific aim.

It’s also the final scheduled pay-per-view before the UFC ends its broadcast-rights deal with ESPN and moves to Paramount+ at the beginning of 2026.

White hasn’t ruled out someday returning to the pay-per-view model in a potential one-off capacity, but it will no longer be the norm. Paramount+ plans to stream all premium events as part of subscriber’s packages after signing a seven-year, $7.7 billion deal with the UFC.

Dvalishvili, who carries a 14-fight win streak into UFC 323, is aiming to establish himself a staple of this next era.

“I feel like this is just the beginning for me,” he said. “It was hard to get here but I’ll keep training and keep getting better.”

Dvalishvili already bulldozed Yan once, as he beat him by unanimous decision in a five-round, non-title main event in March 2023 at the Theater at Virgin Hotels.

He felt extra motivation in the bout given Yan’s enmity with Sterling, who controversially defeated the Brazilian twice—first to win the title via disqualification for an illegal strike in 2021, then defending it via split-decision in a 2022 rematch.

Yan came in as a big favorite against Dvalishvili the first time, but now the expectations are flipped. Dvalishvili is as high as a -500 (i.e. risking $500 to win $100) favorite to defeat Yan at UFC 323.

That’s representative of the perception of Dvalishvili as a whole. For most of his UFC career, he was seen as a tough fighter with a unique cardio-pushing style but not anywhere close to unbeatable.

Now, he’s unanimously seen as one of the three best pound-for-pound mixed martial artists in the world—along with fellow UFC champions Islam Makhachev and Ilia Topuria—if not an all-time great. White, of all people, said Dvalishvili was “absolutely” the greatest bantamweight ever in the UFC.

“I love the mentality,” White said. “If you look at what he’s done and how he’s gone out and proven himself as a fighter and as a world champion, it’s impressive.”

Dvalishvili said he was grateful for White crowning him with that honor, but didn’t necessarily agree.

Original UFC bantamweight Dominick Cruz and Sterling still cast a long shadow. Sterling is the only other fighter in the division who successfully defended his title three times.

Dvalishvili will be looking to surpass Sterling, who will be in his corner, with his fourth championship win against Yan—and he has the chance to do it all in a single year.

“I found Merab on (reality television show) Lookin’ for a Fight and literally (his coach/former UFC champion) Matt Serra told me that night, ‘This guy is going to be one of your greatest champions ever,’” White recalled. “It took me a while to see it.”

This story originally appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.