"I already beat both O'Malley and Sandhagen" - Petr Yan only interested in rematch against bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili after UFC Macau win
Petr Yan recently dismissed a potential rematch against Sean O'Malley and made it clear that he is only interested in a bantamweight title shot. After an impressive outing at UFC Macau, 'No Mercy' appears to only be interested in a rematch against Merab Dvalishvili.
The former bantamweight champion earned his second consecutive win at UFC Macau, where he earned a unanimous decision over former flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo in the main event. It was an entertaining bout that saw both competitors have their moments, but Yan still shut out the Brazilian on the judges' scorecards.
During his post-event press conference, 'No Mercy' responded to whether he would like to run back his bout against 'Suga', which saw him lose a split decision. Yan mentioned that a rematch doesn't interest him because he believes he should be the No.1 contender after defeating Figueiredo and reacted after Dvalishvili posted that he was impressed with his performance:
"I don't know who I'm going to fight next. I didn't decide yet, it's more [of a] question to UFC matchmakers. I will fight anybody...I already beat both, Sean O'Malley and Sandhagen, I already beat them before...Merab [Dvalishvili], let's do it again. I'm ready to talk about rematch and I believe it's gonna be very exciting fight."
Check out Petr Yan's comments below:
When did Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili fight?
Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili competed in the main event of UFC Fight Night 221, which took place at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada on Mar. 11, 2023.
At the time, 'No Mercy' came into the fight following back-to-back split decision losses to Aljamain Sterling and Sean O'Malley. Meanwhile, 'The Machine' was surging up the bantamweight rankings and looking to get into the title picture at 135 pounds.
Dvalishvili continued to showcase his dominant wrestling and relentless pace en route to a unanimous decision win over Yan after all three judges scored the bout 50-45.
Check out Petr Yan calling out Merab Dvalishvili for a rematch below: