Things got heated between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili following the UFC Las Vegas weigh-ins, and considering the history between the two bantamweight contenders, it shouldn’t come as any surprise.
Yan and Dvalishvili meet in the main event of Saturday’s card at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas. Yan has been at odds with Dvalishvili — along with his training partner and current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling — over the last couple of years, and ahead of their scheduled five-round contest, Yan shoved Dvalishvili during their final staredown.
Check out video of the heated face-off above.
After the shove, the competitors were separated, and Dvalishvili looked to want to continue the skirmish ahead of their fight, but to no avail.
Yan, a former champion, has dropped consecutive straight split decisions to Sterling at UFC 274 this past April and to Sean O’Malley at October’s UFC 280 event, going winless during a calendar year for the first time in his pro career. Prior to that, “No Mercy” captured the interim 135-pound title fight with a decision win over Cory Sandhagen at UFC 267 in October 2021.
Dvalishvili enters the biggest fight of his career on an eight-fight win streak. In his most recent outing, the 32-year-old outworked former featherweight champion Jose Aldo to earn a close decision win at UFC 278 this past August.
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