Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333: "I love Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi loves me"
What the former bantamweight champion said during fight week before his third fight with Petr Yan.
Merab Dvalishvili kept his fight week in Abu Dhabi upbeat. At Thursday's press conference he told the crowd: "I love Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi loves me," Arab News and Khaleej Times reported. At the open workout at Yas Mall a day earlier, he told Khaleej Times he had been to Abu Dhabi before as a guest fighter and had always had a good time there.
On the fight itself he was brief. "I can beat him this time," he told The National. The paper noted that Dvalishvili fought four times in 2025 and has admitted that accepting the Yan fight two months after his win over Corey Sandhagen was a mistake. The defeat in December ended a 14-fight winning streak.
In an interview with the UFC, summarised by Sport-Express, Dvalishvili said he sees the third fight as a chance to end the rivalry on a positive note. After a win he would like a short break, though he admitted he never manages to stay away from training for long.
Dvalishvili (21-5) won the first fight with Yan by unanimous decision in March 2023, and Yan (20-5) won the rematch by unanimous decision in December 2025. Both weighed 135 lb on Friday for the co-main event at Etihad Arena on Saturday 24 October.
UFC 333: Volkanovski vs EvloevSat 24 Oct · Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi See ticketsSource: Arab News, Khaleej Times, The National, Sport-Express
