Merab Dvalishvili responds to Petr Yan’s callout for a title fight after his win at UFC Macau
Merab Dvalishvili was definitely paying attention to Petr Yan’s performance.
After previously calling Deiveson Figueiredo a more worthy contender than his next expected opponent Umar Nurmagomedov, the reigning UFC bantamweight champion responded to a callout from Yan following a win over the Brazilian in the UFC Macau main event. Yan has now won two fights in a row after dropping a lopsided decision to Dvalishvili back in March 2023, which actually served as his third loss in a row overall.
With the win over Figueiredo on Saturday, Yan immediately called for the rematch against Dvalishvili.
“I want to say, Merab, what you say now when I beat No. 1 contender in my division?” Yan shouted to the crowd in China. “I want to do a rematch with Merab. Let’s go.”
It didn’t take long for Dvalishvili to take notice and send a message right back to Yan with a suggestion of a rematch at UFC 313 in March.
“Great fight, Petr,” Dvalishvili said on Instagram. “I like your callout and I like your respect. Let’s go again after two years. March 8. T-Mobile [Arena]. Let’s f*cking go.”
Dvalishvili also posted about the callout on Twitter.
I’m impressed @PetrYanUFC performance tonight #UFCMacao
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) November 23, 2024
LFG @PetrYanUFC - March 8th #UFC313 T Mobile , Las Vegas - ⚔️ @Stake pic.twitter.com/fn5y0Peses
— Merab “The Machine” Dvalishvili (@MerabDvalishvil) November 23, 2024
That message is almost certainly going to face some resistance with the UFC continuing to push Nurmagomedov as the next challenger for the 135-pound title after the undefeated Russian beat perennial contender Cory Sandhagen in his most recent outing.
In his career, Nurmagomedov sports a perfect 18-0 record including six consecutive wins in the UFC.
All signs pointed towards Nurmagomedov getting the title shot in early 2025 but Dvalishvili wanted to wait until March for his first defense. That runs right into Ramadan and Nurmagomedov has stated very clearly that he doesn’t want to compete during a month where he fasts from dawn to sunset everyday.
As a result, Dvalishvili and Nurmagomedov have continued to take aim at each other over the dates for a potential fight with no resolution in sight.
After suggesting an immediate rematch against former champion Sean O’Malley in the past, Dvalishvili appears ready to renew his rivalry with Yan instead without a single mention about potentially facing Nurmagomedov next.
But Nurmagomedov definitely noticed.
No one is surprised.
— Umar Nurmagomedov (@UNmgdv) November 23, 2024