A well-deserved Fight of the Night bonus was awarded to Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan 2 in the wake of UFC 323 on Saturday.
The rematch, the final main event of the UFC’s numbered events on ESPN, was a thriller, with Petr Yan showing up in career-best form. On route to evening his career series with Dvalishvili, who was attempting to defend his 135lb title for a record-setting fourth time in a calendar year, Russia’s Yan displayed top-notch takedown defense, and even landed a few takedowns of his own. On top of that, he had the edge in striking, rocking and bloodying Dvalishvili early in the bout.
True to form, Dvalishvili’s cardio never faded, but he soon found himself in an unfamiliar position: fighting from behind. And he never could make up the gap, losing a unanimous decision with the closest score being a 48-47. The remaining two judges, however, scored the fight 49-46.
The win for Yan sets up a trilogy fight, which might be the smart play for the UFC, given how good Saturday’s headliner was.
Performance of the Night bonuses at UFC 323 went to Iwo Baraniewski, who got into a one-round, actually 89-second brawl with Ibo Aslan, and Manuel Torres. Torres put away Grant Dawson in the night’s featured prelim.
All four bonus-winners take home the usual $50,000 U.S. for their efforts (with that number set to rise in the new year).
