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According to Dan Hardy, Petr Yan has the potential to take advantage of Merab Dvalishvili's lack of experience in five-round fights using his fighting technique. The two fighters are scheduled to compete against each other in the main event of UFC Fight Night 221, which will mark the return of the promotion at The Theater at Virgin Hotels.
After experiencing two split decision losses in a row, Petr Yan, the former bantamweight champion, is eager to make a comeback. In April 2022, he was defeated by Aljamain Sterling at UFC 274, and later in October, he lost to Sean O'Malley at UFC 280, which resulted in his first winless year as a professional fighter.
Meanwhile, Merab Dvalishvili is coming into a fight with Yan after a remarkable win over the UFC Hall-of-Famer, Jose Aldo, at UFC 278 the previous year. This victory has undoubtedly boosted Dvalishvili's confidence, and he will be hoping to continue his winning streak against Yan.
UFC welterweight veteran turned MMA analyst Dan Hardy believes that Yan's fighting style has the potential to exploit Merab Dvalishvili's lack of championship round experience. Hardy previewed today's main event battle in the most recent edition of his YouTube show, The War Room. He stated:
"The patience of Petr Yan would be beneficial because this is five rounds and because, it's Merab's first time over 25 minutes so there are questions about the pace that, Merab keeps and whether he can keep it for 25 minutes.
He continued:
"Because I mean it's kind of like Clay Guida, you watch him you think at some point you've got to slow down at some point you've got to get tired but. what is the circumstance that Merab gets tired is it because he works really really hard. To stay close and to grapple with Petr Yan through the first three rounds."
Watch the entire analysis below:
Merab Dvalishvili gets violently shoved by Petr Yan during their UFC Las Vegas faceoff
At the UFC Las Vegas weigh-ins, the tension between Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili reached a boiling point, a clear indication of the ferocity that will be on show during their forthcoming bantamweight clash.
With today's main event card rapidly approaching, Yan and Dvalishvili's anger towards each other was palpable, with their recent history simply adding fuel to the fire. 'No Mercy' and 'The Machine' have been feuding for years, with Yan also feuding with Dvalishvili's training partner and current bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling.
The tension was apparent as they faced up to their final staredown before the battle, and Yan lost no time in expressing his views. The Russian native stunned many by shoving Dvalishvili and generating a ruckus between the two groups.
Check out the intense face-off below:
