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Merab Dvalishvili breaks down key mistake he made in Petr Yan rematch ahead of UFC 333 title fight

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Merab Dvalishvili breaks down key mistake he made in Petr Yan rematch ahead of UFC 333 title fight

LOS ANGELES – Merab Dvalishili knows what went wrong the second time he crossed paths with Petr Yan.

The rivals are set to collide in a trilogy bout in the co-main event of UFC 333, which takes place in Abu Dhabi on Oct. 24. Dvalishvili dominated their first encounter in 2023, taking Yan down over and over again to win a decision. However, it was Yan who triumphed in their rematch at UFC 323, putting on a virtuoso performance to end Dvalishvili's bantamweight title reign and become a two-time champion.

Facing another 25 minutes in the cage with Yan, Dvalishvili told MMA Fighting's José Youngs he plans to get back to basics.

“I think the second fight I was fighting his fight,†Dvalishvili said. “I was in front of him and then exchanged the boxing, but this time I will just be myself. I think I'll be much sharper and I know I can beat this guy. He hits hard, he is good, he's shown, so it's going to be a good fight. I'm excited.â€

Dvalishvili was on a run of three straight successful title defenses before the loss to Yan, who stopped Dvalishvili from setting a UFC record with four successful defenses in a calendar year. Both men had angled for a trilogy bout before the official announcement, though Yan's return has been delayed by back surgery.

With the top 2 fighters in the division on hold, the rest of the top 10 has seen considerable movement, including Song Yadong scoring a dramatic knockout of one-time title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov, and Mario Bautista bumping past Cory Sandhagen in the rankings. Dvalishvili is excited for what this means for him after he's done with Yan.

“Division keeps going,†Dvalishvili said. “I love this. You have a lot of good guys like Raul Rosas. I'm friends with him, he's a cool guy, very strong. There are lots of young, tough fighters in this division.

“Now we have a new contender, Song Yadong, I'm not going to say he gives me chills, but he makes me excited because he hits hard. He really hits like a truck and I want to test that.â€

Dvalishvili is fully focused on Yan, but still has time to campaign for his close friend Aljamain Sterling, the former bantamweight champion currently working towards a title shot at 145 pounds. Sterling is 3-1 at featherweight and has targeted fan favorite Jean Silva for a bout to determine who faces the winner of the UFC 333 main event between champion Alexander Volkanovski and the undefeated Movsar Evloev.

“That's the fight to make, for me,†Dvalishvil said. “All respect to Jean Silva, but Aljo is here, too, and I think the winner vs. Volkanovski or Movsar. … You can't skip Aljo.â€

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MMA

Ian Garry accuses Michael Morales of avoiding him, then they agree to fight

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Ian Garry accuses Michael Morales of avoiding him, then they agree to fight
Michael
Morales and Ian Garry
appear to have reached an agreement.

Garry came up short in his maiden title bid in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC
330, losing to Islam
Makhachev via decision. The Irishman is now looking to re-enter
the title mix by beating unbeaten welterweight Morales, who's open
to the matchup.

Michael Morales accepts Ian Garry's Nov. 28 proposal for a UFC
fight in Saudi Arabia

Morales has shared a screenshot of his DMs with Garry wherein they
agree to fight in November. The latter initially questioned the
former's availability claims, speculating that he's avoiding the
matchup.

“I wanna fight before the end of the year and I'm being told you're
not available,†Garry wrote. “You were able to be the back up for
the world title fight but not able to take a fight with me now?
You've also asked to be a back up for the next title fight, but
still not available to fight with me? Looks like someone is
avoiding me. Talk all that sh*t online then don't agree to fight?
What's going on here?â€

Morales responded by making his position clear:

“My son, what are you talking about? I fight whenever you want I
just want a contract and that's it I'll kick your *ss.â€

Garry responded:

“Saudi, Nov. 28. Let's do it.â€

Morales accepted, but it remains to be seen whether the UFC will
put the matchup together. Carlos
Prates is widely considered the next challenger to Makhachev's
title, making Garry vs. Morales a pivotal title eliminator.

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MMA

Demetrious Johnson spots his lesson in Arman Tsarukyans UFC 331 KO

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Demetrious Johnson spots his lesson in Arman Tsarukyan's UFC 331 KO
Demetrious
Johnson claims Arman
Tsarukyan put a lesson from their training session together to
good use in his recent bout.

Tsarukyan further bolstered his case for a title shot in the

Ultimate Fighting Championship at UFC
331, knocking out Mauricio
Ruffy with an elbow at 4:56 of the opening round. The technique
he used to deliver the knockout was among the positions he worked
on alongside Johnson when they trained together.

Arman Tsarukyan put Demetrious Johnson’s clinch advice to use
against Mauricio Ruffy

Johnson broke down the finish and highlighted Tsarukyan's decision
to remain aggressive in close range rather than immediately looking
for another takedown when he had Ruffy up against the Octagon
wall.

“Now, instead of just wrestling here, like I said, you don't have
to wrestle here,†Johnson said in a video posted to his YouTube
channel. “Look, he's already here. That's one of the things I
showed him. Usually people want to wrestle here, but I told him,
‘You don't have to wrestle.'â€

The UFC Hall of Famer also backed Tsarukyan for a title shot
against lightweight champ Justin
Gaethje.

“Those are things that he's going to need when he takes on Justin
Gaethje, because Justin can push the pace,†Johnson said. “He can
do a lot of damage. He can wrestle, too. This is the fight that
needs to happen. We don't need to worry about Ilia
Topuria. This man is owed a title shot.â€


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MMA

Michael Morales and Ian Machado Garry exchange words before agreeing to Saudi Arabia showdown

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Michael Morales and Ian Machado Garry exchange words before agreeing to Saudi Arabia showdown

Michael Morales and Ian Machado Garry appear to be on a collision course.

While the UFC brass hasn't made things official, the general consensus is that Islam Makhachev will likely put the lightweight title at stake against Carlos Prates at some point before Ramadan. That would leave top contender Morales open for a title eliminator. Garry, who recently fell short in his bid to dethrone Makhachev at UFC 330, has been angling for a clash with Morales.

Recently, a DM exchange between Morales and Garry was exposed on social media. In the texts, Garry questioned Morales for not being available to fight him (via MMAMania).

“I wanna fight before the end of the year and I'm being told you're not available,†Garry texted Morales. “You were able to be the back up for the world title fight but not able to take a fight with me now? You've also asked to be a back up for the next title fight, but still not available to fight with me?

“Looks like someone is avoiding me. “Talk all that s–t online then don't agree to fight? What's going on here?â€

Morales dismissed Garry's claim, and he even allowed “The Future†to dictate the terms as long as he receives an offer for the bout.

“My son, what are you talking about?†Morales replied. “I fight whenever you want I just want a contract and that's it I'll kick your ass.â€

When Garry suggested a clash in Saudi Arabia, Morales obliged.

“Sign it, my son, and we'll do it,†Morales replied.

Growing tensions in Saudi Arabia, which have led to missile and drone attacks, have left many wary of doing business in the country at this time. Whether or not this will give the UFC brass pause remains to be seen.

Do you think Michael Morales vs. Ian Machado Garry is the right fight to book? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM


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