UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili expects Henry Cejudo to turn back the clock at UFC 323.

Dvalishvili is set to headline the year-end pay-per-view card in a rematch against Petr Yan, while Cejudo will return against Payton Talbott on the card. It’s an intriguing fight as it’s a massive step-up in competition for Talbott, and Dvalishvili believes Cejudo will get his hand raised.

Merab weighs in on Henry Cejudo x Payton Talbott:

"Henry will beat him.

Henry's not wrestling much and not using his grappling. Even if he used it, he'll get tired because he doesn't train much." pic.twitter.com/YvezKJp2Mr

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) October 13, 2025

“Henry will beat him,” Dvalishvili said to Ariel Helwani. “Henry’s not wrestling much and not using his grappling. Even if he used it, he’ll get tired because he doesn’t train much. I’m hoping Henry Cejudo wins this fight.”

Although Dvalishvili doesn’t think Cejudo is wrestling all that much, he expects the former champ to wrestle here to get the win. But, if Cejudo doesn’t train all that much, as Dvalishvili said, it could be a long night for the former champ-champ.

Henry Cejudo (16-5) is on a three-fight losing streak and is coming off a decision loss to Song Yadong. Also on the losing skid, he lost to Merab Dvalishvili and dropped a split decision to Aljamain Sterling for the bantamweight belt.

Payton Talbott (10-1) returned to the win column with a decision win over Felipe Lima back in June. Before that, he suffered a stunning decision loss to Raoni Barcelos.

As for Merab Dvalishvili, he’s set to rematch Petr Yan at UFC 323 on Dec. 6 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dvalishvili is set for his fourth defense of his bantamweight title, and is looking to become the first male or female UFC champion to defend their belt four times in a calendar year.

UFC 323 fight card:

• Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan – for bantamweight title
• Alexandre Pantoja vs. Joshua Van – for flyweight title
• Jan Blachowicz vs. Bogdan Guskov
• Henry Cejudo vs. Payton Talbott
• Brandon Moreno vs. Tatsuro Taira
• Maycee Barber vs. Karine Silva
• Mansur Abdul-Malik vs. Antonio Trocoli
• Chris Duncan vs. Terrance McKinney
• Nazim Sadykhov vs. Fares Ziam