While it is expected that Merab Dvalishvili will get an opportunity to earn his belt back, it sounds as though he has been left in the dark regarding the timeline.
In an attempt to defend his bantamweight title for the fourth consecutive time, Merab Dvalishvili fell short on the judges’ scorecards against Petr Yan last December. This brought the pair’s series to one win each, as Dvalishvili was the victor in their initial meeting back in 2023.
Following the loss last year, Yan needed to undergo back surgery to correct an ongoing injury suffered on the job. Clearly, this caused an expected delay in the matchmaking process, but Dvalishvili seems surprised that he has not received word on the situation at this point. Clearly, sitting idle would make a fighter like Dvalishvili less comfortable, as he has garnered a reputation as one of the most active fighters in the sport, making four UFC appearances in 2025 alone. Now, we are almost five months into 2026, and the Georgian doesn’t even have a rumored timeline for his next match.
“I don’t hear anything from him,” Dvalishvili told MMA Fighting about Yan. “He don’t want to fight yet. I don’t know what is the situation. We all see his interview, he was ready in June for the White House but they have already announced the July fight card. They’re going to announce the August fight card soon.
“They haven’t told me anything. All I know is I’m fighting Yan but I don’t know when. I don’t know the time. It looks like Petr is taking his time.”
(h/t MMA Fighting)
Despite the change in pace of his career, ‘The Machine’ understands that he doesn’t get to dictate the action now that he is not a champion. He also seems to understand that waiting is part of the deal when you want specific matchups.
“Hey, this is the game we’re in,” Dvalishvili said. “Sometimes you have to wait. When I was champion, I can push the UFC, I can tell [them] ‘hey, UFC keep me busy, I want to fight soon’ and the UFC keeps me busy.
(h/t MMA Fighting)