UFC 323 went down last Saturday night (Dec. 6, 2025) in Las Vegas, Nevada, leaving several fighters feeling the post-fight blues. Among them was Alexandre Pantoja, who lost his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Flyweight title to Joshua Van after suffering a broken arm in the opening moments of the fight (see it again here).
And Brandon Moreno, who suffered a technical knockout (TKO) defeat at the hands of Tatsuro Taira (video replay here). And let’s not forget about Henry Cejudo, who suffered a one-sided
unanimous decision defeat at the hands of Payton Talbott, which prompted him to announce his retirement from the fight game. But which fighter is suffering from the worst post-fight hangover, now a few days removed from the show?
Merab Dvalishvili.
Coming into his rematch against Petr Yan, Merab was making history by taking part in his fourth title defense in a calendar year after defending it successfully three times prior against Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley and Cory Sandhagen. Plus, he already had a win over Yan, so you couldn’t blame him for coming in super-confident. Another win, would also extend his win streak to 15 in a row, an unprecedented run to say the least.
But Yan came in confident himself after winning his last three fights since losing to “The Machine” in March 2023. And he showed that confidence once the opening bell rang, as he refused to allow Merab to dictate the pace of the fight by preventing him from getting into his zone. For the first few rounds, Yan was able to neutralize the champion’s wrestling. As a result, the fight had to be played out on the feet.
And that is where “No Mercy” shines as one of the best strikers in all of the 135-pound weight class. Once in the championship rounds, Yan showed that he, too, has a pretty good gas tank and was able to keep his offense firing on all cylinders. Despite the fact that Dvalishvili started to have some success, in the end, Yan did enough to earn a unanimous, controversy-free decision win that allowed him to once again reclaim the title he lost to Aljamain Sterling in 2021.
For Merab, his magical run comes to an end, and many were wondering if his performance was a result of his body being so busy over the course of the last 12 months. Regardless, all of the credit has to be given to Yan for showing out.
As far as what could be next for “The Machine,” if there was ever anyone deserving of an immediate rematch it’s him. As I mentioned earlier, not only has Merab been dominant, but he is without a doubt one of the most active champions ever since his title fight against Yan was his fifth in 15 months.
The series is tied at one a piece, so Dvalishvili has a good case for getting the next championship fight because his dominant ways have at least earned him that. Umar Nurmagomedov is ranked No. 1 at the moment, but he already has loss against Merab and just barely got back into the win column by defeating Mario Bautista. That said, do you think someone else is deserving of getting first crack against Yan?
For complete UFC 323 results and play-by-play, click here.
