Saturday’s event is capped by a massive fight in the bantamweight division, as former champ Petr Yan squares off with surging contender Merab Dvalishvili.
Yan enters on a two-fight skid, having dropped consecutive split decisions to current titleholder Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley. The well-rounded Russian has just one victory in his last four outings, yet unquestionably remains one of the top talents in the ultra-competitive division but needs to get things moving in the right direction in order for that to continue to hold true.
Dvalishvili has won eight straight after beginning his UFC tenure with consecutive losses, using his unrelenting pace and voluminous wresting approach to suffocate and exhaust opponents. He wasn’t as prolific with his wrestling last time out against Jose Aldo, but the indefatigable Georgian has still amassed 46 takedowns during his current run of success, including hitting double digits twice.
There are a couple layers of added intrigue to this fight.
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First, Dvalishvili is Sterling’s main training partner and best friend, which means he’s helped the champion prepare for “No Mercy” ahead of both their fights and the rivalry between Yan and Sterling is likely to spill over into this one.
Personal rivalries aside, this should be an outstanding fight between a pair of elite talents in the most competitive division in the UFC. In its simplest form, it profiles as a “striker versus grappler” battle, but both men are skilled in all facets of the game and should showcase the full complement of their skills in this one.
