Merab Dvalishvili has been so dominant during his run through the bantamweight division he’s already staring down several potential rematches including his next fight against former champion Petr Yan when they meet again at UFC 323 in December.
Their first encounter in 2023 was arguably the moment when Dvalishvili graduated from good to great as he pitched a five-round shutout to beat Yan and ascend to the top of the division. Dvalishvili had Yan on his heels all night long, attempting a remarkable
49 takedowns and never letting up on the pressure until the fight was over.
Now more than two years later, the rematch is set with Yan recently claiming he expects a much better result because he was “only at 50 percent” in the first fight. Those excuses don’t sit well with Dvalishvili’s head coach John Wood, who scoffed at so many opponents explaining why they lost rather than taking responsibility for losing.
“Petr Yan’s back into the mix and all of a sudden it’s ‘I was 50 percent for the last fight.’ Why are we hearing about that now two and a half years later or whatever?” Wood told MMA Fighting. “Fifty percent? Well, OK, Merab’s a lot better than he was then so I think it’s still going to balance out the same way for you.
“I do get tired of the whole fighters [saying] ‘I was injured.’ Don’t take the fight then. Don’t take the fight. If you’ve got bad ribs that it’s so bad that when you lose, you’re going to blame it on that then why are we fighting? Don’t fight. Just shut your mouth and do what you’re supposed to do. Everybody gets in there injured.”
Wood revealed Dvalishvili was severely compromised going into the first fight against Yan but he powered through and still got the job done.
Truth be told, the Syndicate MMA head coach knows almost every UFC athlete is dealing with bumps, bruises and injuries heading into a fight but it’s the ability to overcome those ailments that separate the contenders from the champions.
“I’ll tell you this when Merab fought Petr Yan, we had some nasty injuries,” Wood said. “His hand was the size of a football when he went in there. He could barely get his hand in the glove. He had a complete broken hand in that fight. Going into it. Never hear a word about it. You’ll never hear a word about those things and he still did what he did.
“Everybody’s going to say what they need to say to feel better and that’s OK, that’s part of the game. The whole injury thing — saying you can beat another guy, no problem, I’m good with that. But I lost because of injury, it’s a little kind of cringey.”
There was a similar situation when Dvalishvili fought Umar Nurmagomedov this past January. According to Wood, Dvalishvili was dealing with all sorts of issues heading into the fight.
While Nurmagomedov suffered a broken thumb during the title bout that left him compromised, Wood says Dvalishvili was in such bad shape he almost wished the fight didn’t happen.
“God as my witness, I was really hoping that maybe the commission wouldn’t clear him just because of how unhealthy he was,” Wood said. “It was never a thing of like knowing he couldn’t do it. Because his sparring, even how messed up he was for that, his sparring was so good. This dude would come in, could barely walk, sick and get in there and just beat the shit out of everybody for 10 rounds. I mean like nothing was wrong. Great sparring and then leave and be busted up again. So I knew he was capable of doing it, there was never a question and I knew there was no way he was going to pull out of that fight.
“But it was a scary thought. Because it’s like Umar is a tough dude, he’s a very talented, tough dude from a very good camp. Those fears of like, ‘Oh my god if I don’t pull him out, something bad happens, it’s on me.’ But again, I know what kind of dog I’ve got in that fight and Merab would have to lose a limb for me to probably pull him out of a fight.”
Now Wood sympathizes with fighters coming up short and believing things could go differently in a rematch.
That’s effectively what Cory Sandhagen said after falling in lopsided fashion to Dvalishvili at UFC 320. Just days later, Sandhagen gave Dvalishvili praise for his performance, but added he still looks at the UFC bantamweight champion as an “absolutely winnable fight” if they met again.
“To fight the champion, you’re the next best guy,” Wood said. “He’s got to talk himself into the fight. He’s got to be confident. He’s got to say those things. He’s got to do that. That’s fine. That’s part of the fight game. The reality is we know that’s not the truth. You can’t do what Merab does. No one can emulate it. You can’t emulate it in a room. You can have 10 new fresh guys on you every time and if you don’t get tired, great. Good for you. That’s not Merab.
“Merab is going to bring a different problem to you that you have never solved. A different kind of power. A different kind of explosion. A different kind of timing. Just when you think you’ve got Merab figured out, he’s going to change it up on you. I don’t fault Cory or anybody, these guys all talk. Some of these guys talk themselves up so big and then you just get smashed and then you’ve got to go deal with that after. I think at this point in time, everybody’s going to say the same thing: I think I can figure this out.”
Whether opponents talk trash or say nothing before a showdown against Dvalishvili, Wood expects the same outcome no matter what.
“I’m quite happy when guys start talking shit to Merab or saying things, whatever. The man doesn’t need motivation,” Wood said. “You just saw, there was no beef between him and Cory but if you start diminishing what he’s done or already done to you or start diminishing his skill set, he is going to prove to you in a big way that’s probably not the smartest thing. I do think the Petr Yan fight, I don’t see a world where Merab doesn’t win it. Anything can happen. I don’t try to shit talk or try to diminish the skill sets. Yan is a great fighter. I’m a big fan of Petr Yan. If not for Merab, he’s in title contention, same thing with Sandhagen.
“I’m a fan of these guys. I like watching them. I like their coaches. They’re very well coached guys but Merab has only gotten better. Not saying Yan hasn’t gotten better. I’m not in that camp, I don’t know but Merab has gotten better and by that time, he will get better. I think if you go back and watch what happened in that fight, this Merab finishes that Petr Yan no problem and in multiple different ways.”
