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Brett Okamoto
It has been less than 10 days since UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili defended his title at UFC 322 — and he already has his next assignment.
Dvalishvili (21-4) will attempt to defend his title for the fourth time this year, in a main event against Petr Yan (19-5) at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, UFC CEO Dana White said Monday.
If Dvalishvili wins, he will become the first champion in UFC history to defend a championship four times in a calendar year.
“You’ve got to respect Merab for wanting to break the record,” White said. “I love this s—.”
In addition to the main event, flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (30-5) will defend his title against surging contender Joshua Van (15-2). Former two-weight champion Henry Cejudo (16-5) will also compete on the card against Payton Talbott (10-1).
The bout will be a rematch of a five-round contest that took place in March 2023, when Dvalishvili was moving up the ranks to the title. Dvalishvili dominated Yan in that fight, outlanding him in total strikes 147-75 en route to winning every round on the judges’ scorecards. Dvalishvili also took down Yan, who is a former champion, 11 times.
Dvalishvili, of Georgia, is ranked the No. 3 pound-for-pound fighter in the world by ESPN.