Merab Dvalishvili is called ‘The Machine’ for a reason.

Not even two weeks after successfully defending his bantamweight belt against Cory Sandhagen, Dvalishvili already has his next title defense lined up. On Saturday, December 6, the Georgian will headline UFC 323 when he runs back his 2023 clash against Petr Yan.

It will be Dvalishvili’s fourth fight of 2025 and his fifth in 15 months.

“To be honest, I just want to be busy,” Dvalishvili said during an appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show. “I love fighting, and I do very, very good when I am busy. Because when I don’t have a fight, there are a lot of distractions—I’m traveling, going everywhere, I’m not focused. But when I have a fight, I’m very focused. I say no to many things that distract me.

“For example, if friends invite me somewhere, I might go if I don’t have a fight, but if I have a fight I’ll say no, I don’t eat like crazy, I don’t drink—my training comes first.”​

Merab Dvalishvili tries to go 2-up on Petr Yan

Dvalishvili already holds a victory over Yan, defeating ‘No Mercy’ a couple of years back. In the time since, Yan has put together three straight wins, besting Song Yadong, Deiveson Figueiredo, and, most recently, Marcus McGhee.

‘The Machine’ goes into his fourth title defense of the year, riding a 14-fight win streak that dates all the way back to September 2018. Will Yan be the man to bring an end to Dvalishvili’s reign of terror in the bantamweight division, or will the 135-pound king continue to etch his name in the history books?

Check out the current lineup for UFC 323 below:

UFC 323 PPV Main Card on ESPN+ PPV (10 p.m. ET):

• Merab Dvalishvili(c) vs. Petr Yan – UFC bantamweight championship
• Alexandre Pantoja(c) vs. Joshua Van – UFC flyweight championship
• Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott
• Jan Błachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov
• Brandon Moreno vs. Tatsuro Taira

UFC 323 Prelims Card On ESPN, ESPN+ (8 p.m. ET):

• Marvin Vettori vs. Brunno Ferreira
• Grant Dawson vs. Manuel Torres
• Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Antonio Trocoli
• Chris Duncan vs. Terrance McKinney
• Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva
• Nazim Sadykhov vs. Fares Ziam

Card is subject to change.

Craig Pekios

Craig Pekios is a freelance writer born and raised in Bettendorf, IA. Joining LowKick MMA in May 2022, Craig has more than 4,000 articles published that focus on the world of MMA and boxing, including news, event previews, results, analysis, and op-eds.