Merab Dvalishvili is hoping to carve out a piece of UFC history before 2025 is out.
The Georgian fighter, crowned as the organisation’s bantamweight titleholder 13 months ago today, has been among the most active champions on the roster, defending his crown three times this year alone with wins over Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O’Malley and earlier this month Cory Sandhagen.
Should he score one more title defence in advance of December 31st this year, Dvalishvili will have had a year unlike any other champion in UFC history — and White is more than happy to see him continue his winning streak by headlining UFC 323 against former champion Petr Yan in the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on December 6.
“Just after his title defense at UFC 320, Merab came into the office and told us how important it was for him to break the record for the most title defenses in a single year,” UFC boss White said in a message posted to social media late on Monday. “He’s currently on a 14-fight win streak and looking to make an unprecedented fourth title defense in under a year.
“Merab already holds UFC records for the most takedowns ever, and a win here would move him into second place for the longest win streak in UFC history. He also has the most bantamweight wins and the most bantamweight title wins. This kid is on fire.”
Dvalishvili already holds a win over Russia’s Yan from March 2023 in what was his last defeat. Following that Yan has scored unanimous decision victories against Song Yadong, Deiveson Figueiredo and, in July, Marcus McGhee.
“Petr Yan is an absolute savage and a former champion,” White added. “This is a very fun fight, and you’ve got to respect Merab’s drive to chase history.”
White continued: “In the co-main event, Alexandre Pantoja defends his flyweight belt against the number-one contender Josh Van. Pantoja is riding an eight-fight win streak and holds the record for the most finishes and wins in flyweight history. Josh Van, meanwhile, is coming off a Fight of the Year contender against Brandon Royval.
“He’s exploded onto the scene, looking for his fifth win in under a year to earn his title shot. Van also holds flyweight records for the most strikes landed per minute and for striking differential — simply put, Josh Van is all action, all the time.”
White also confirmed that the event, which will serve as the final pay-per-view card of the year, will also feature a light heavyweight battle between former 205-pound champion Jan Blachowicz and Bogdan Guskov, while another former champion, Henry Cejudo, takes on the always exciting contender Payton Talbott.
