The Ultimate Fighting Championship will take a one-week break from pay-per-view for what looks like a solid ancillary show, as bantamweights take center stage at UFC Fight Night 221 on Saturday in Las Vegas. Former champion Petr Yan takes on Merab Dvalishvili in an excellent main event, while Said Nurmagomedov-Jonathan Martinez projects as another intriguing bout in the UFC’s deepest division. Meanwhile, the promotion expectedly decided to lean on heavier weight classes in main-card slots, and even those pairings are interesting. Heavyweights Alexander Volkov and Alexander Romanov make for a fascinating style clash in the co-headliner, while Nikita Krylov and Ryan Spann should offer some chaos at a 215-pound catchweight. Throw in a guaranteed featherweight banger between Ricardo Ramos and Austin Lingo, and this lines up as a solid stopgap between numbered events.
Bantamweights
#2 BW | Petr Yan (16-4, 8-3 UFC) vs. #3 BW | Merab Dvalishvili (15-4, 8-2 UFC)ODDS: Yan (-255), Dvalishvili (+215)
When Yan won the UFC bantamweight title in 2020, it seemed like “No Mercy” would rule over one of the promotion’s deepest divisions for years to come, which makes it a shock that he now finds himself in what is clearly a must-win position. A top prospect almost immediately upon his professional debut, Yan needed only two years to go from UFC newcomer to UFC champion, never getting tested much along the way. When everything is clicking, Yan fights with a rare mix of calculation and violence. He will take a round or two to feel out his opponents and get some reads, after which there is usually a point where he can make them pay for every single choice they make, turning into a buzzsaw of aggression. Frankly, Yan looked close to unbeatable by the time he became 135-pound champion, so naturally, he lost his title in his first defense, even if it was in about the dumbest fashion possible. Yan had a victory well in hand by the fourth round against Aljamain Sterling, who had tired himself trying to outpace the Russian in the early going. However, when Yan was faced with a downed Sterling attempting to make his way to his feet, he decided to obliterate the Serra-Longo Fight Team star with a brutal knee to the head. The illegal blow ended the fight and awarded Sterling the title via disqualification. The result made the last 13 months absolutely bizarre, as Sterling recovered from injuries while everyone essentially considered Yan the uncrowned champ, particularly after he handled Cory Sandhagen to win an interim belt in the meantime. Still, it was conventional wisdom that Yan would buzzsaw his way back to undisputed champion status as soon as Sterling was healthy enough for a rematch, though apparently someone forgot to tell the “Funk Master.” Yan started a bit overaggressive, either fighting with some rare emotion or simply attempting to pick up where he left off in the first fight, leaving enough holes for Sterling to find success with wrestling and grappling and eke out a narrow decision victory. The book was temporarily closed on the Sterling-Yan saga, but Yan figured to be back in the title mix sooner rather than later, especially when his next matchup turned out to be against top prospect Sean O’Malley, who had looked rough in his previous steps up against elite competition. However, Yan’s opponent upended the narrative with a career-best performance. O’Malley landed enough offense to keep Yan from fully taking over the fight and walked away with a close decision as a result. It is hard to say Yan has done anything to dull his stock, but three losses in four fights puts his championship hopes in a strange spot heading into this fight against Dvalishvili.
Dvalishvili is currently riding an eight-fight winning streak, which makes it easy to forget just how rough a start he had to his UFC career. Armed with a relentless takedown game and little else at the time, “The Machine” got outpointed by Frankie Saenz and choked out by Ricky Simon in his first two UFC fights. Since then, it has been off to the races. Dvalishvili’s unbreakable cardio and willingness to rinse and repeat takedowns remain the backbone of his approach, but he has carved out enough striking over the years to hold his own in that aspect of his fights. His 2021 win over Cody Stamann was his most balanced yet, which made his last performance a bit disappointing. It is still impressive that Dvalishvili walked away with a win over Jose Aldo in August, but he did so by attempting 15 unsuccessful takedowns, turning the fight into an absolute slog and mostly getting by via forcing the Brazilian icon into inactivity. There is a chance that could work again here—Dvalishvili does have a cardio advantage against just about anyone—but this does feel like where things will finally come home to roost for the Georgian. Yan is a strong wrestler in his own right, and even if Dvalishvili can find some success taking this to the mat, it is unclear what he would actually do to keep the advantage once he got there. Dvalishvili is not anywhere near Sterling’s level as a grappler and has never particularly favored control on the mat, focusing on takedown volume and pace over everything else. He does not seem likely to wear Yan out, and from there, the offense the Russian throws out on the feet should greatly outweigh Dvalishvili’s repeated takedowns. The pick is Yan via decision.
Jump To »
Yan vs. Dvalishvili
Romanov vs. Volkov
Krylov vs. Spann
Ramos vs. Lingo
Nurmagomedov vs. Martinez
Petrino vs. Turkalj
The Prelims