This weekend,
Petr Yan
returns to the Octagon to face
Merab
Dvalishvili in a crucial matchup in the talent-laden
Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight
division. Yan is looking to snap Dvalishvili’s eight-fight winning
streak. Dvalishvili, on the other hand, will aim to hand Yan his
third straight loss. With such a high-level matchup, today’s
Beforemath will be a fun one. We are going to break down the path
to victory for both Yan and Dvalishvili.
Yan: Back to What He Does Best
Yan has seemingly fallen off a cliff. From looking almost
invincible in his rise to going 1-3 in his last four, he has seen
better days. The string of losses doesn’t tell the entire truth,
though. Yan hasn’t looked bad in those fights. He just lost. He is
still very dangerous as a fighter and isn’t past his prime just
yet, although at 30 years old that is rapidly approaching.
A fight with Dvalishvili is a winnable one for Yan but also could
be a bit of a trap. Dvalishvili’s teammate is
Aljamain
Sterling and the two are the Wonder-Twins of grappling in the
bantamweight division. Yan can be sure that Dvalishvili and
Sterling have been working together in this fight extensively. With
Yan being so great in the clinch and with the cardio, this fight
could be tailor made for a throwback performance, but I worry about
Yan’s commitment after his comments calling to be released from the
UFC after his loss to Sean O’Malley. Having one foot out the door
could spell for disaster for Yan and is something to be
considered.
Let’s look at how Yan can win, though. The clinch is one of the
best areas of Yan’s game and the relentless pursuit of grappling
Dvalishvili brings to a fight can play right into Yan’s offensive
skill set.