A key bantamweight fight will headline the UFC’s March 11, 2023 Fight Night event.
Petr Yan (16-4) will face Merab Dvalishvili (15-4) in the main event of the Las Vegas-based card, per a report by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Verbal agreements are in place for the fight, per that initial report.
As opposed to the UFC Apex, the show will take place at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, with a full house of fans expected to be in attendance.
The bout finds Yan looking to snap a two-fight skid, after losing his rematch with Aljamain Sterling last April in a close split decision. A second split decision also didn’t go his way at UFC 280 in October, when Sean O’Malley came out on top with the judges.
Yan won the promotion’s bantamweight title in 2020 with a TKO finish of Jose Aldo, but lost the belt via DQ due to an illegal knee on Sterling in the pair’s first meeting the following year. He then won an interim belt against Cory Sandhagen before falling short in the Sterling rematch.
Dvalishvili, a teammate of Sterling who has been steadfast in his refusal to fight his friend, has won eight straight. That streak includes names like Marlon Moraes and Jose Aldo.
The UFC’s March 11, 2023 Fight Night event currently consists of the following match-ups:
- Merab Dvalishivli vs. Petr Yan
- Abu Azaitar vs. Sedriques Dumas
- Lukasz Brzeski vs. Karl Williams
- JJ Aldrich vs. Ariane Lipski
- Raphael Assuncao vs. Kyler Phillips
