UFC 333: Yan vows to break Dvalishvili's nose 'one more time'
Ahead of the bantamweight trilogy, the champion promises to take the 'machine' apart piece by piece. Dvalishvili stays calm: Abu Dhabi is his territory.
Archive image · Photo: kremlin.ru / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Bantamweight champion Petr Yan set the tone for his third fight with Merab Dvalishvili at the UFC 333 press conference in Abu Dhabi. "For me, it's new fight," the Russian said, according to MMA Fighting. "I want to smash this guy. I want to defend my title." And: "This machine is going to be taken apart, one detail at a time." Then he added: "I will come here, and I will break his nose one more time!"
According to MMA Fighting, Dvalishvili took Yan down eleven times in their first fight but only twice in the rematch, which Yan won last December, according to The National. Yan expects the Georgian to chase takedowns again – and fail. Dvalishvili stayed relaxed: "Saturday night, this is my territory. I love Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi loves me," he said, according to The National.
Yan (20-5) and Dvalishvili (21-5) meet on Saturday on the UFC 333 main card at Etihad Arena; in the main event Alexander Volkanovski defends the featherweight title against Movsar Evloev.