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Din Thomas started the year doubting Merab Dvalishvili, but now he’s unsure who is capable of beating the UFC bantamweight champion.
Dvalishvili (21-4 MMA, 14-2 UFC) will attempt to make a record-setting fourth title defense of 2025 in the final championship fight of the year when he rematches Petr Yan (19-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in the UFC 323 headliner on Dec. 6 in Las Vegas.
After beating Umar Nurmagomedov in a Fight of the Year candidate in January, Dvalishvili submitted Sean O’Malley in their rematch at UFC 316 in June. He then turned around for UFC 320 this month, when he outworked Cory Sandhagen to rack up the third defense of his reign.
Now Dvalishvili, 34, runs it back with Yan, 32, and he can not only become the first champion in UFC history to log four title defenses in a calendar year, but he can take sole possession of the record for most consecutive 135-pound title defenses, currently shared with his friend and teammate Aljamain Sterling.
“I love it when people prove me wrong,” Thomas told MMA Junkie. “That’s why I say the most outlandish stuff, so they can prove me wrong. At the beginning of the year, out of all the champions, I said Merab was the least likely to have the belt at the end of the year. How wrong was I? But I can’t see a world in which Merab loses right now. The fact all the momentum is on his side.”
Dvalishvili is in the midst of one of the great runs in UFC history. He’s won 14 straight fights, with his list of scalps including O’Malley twice, Nurmagomedov, Yan, Sandhagen, Henry Cejudo, Jose Aldo, and more.
“The Machine” carries an unprecedented combination of striking, grappling and endurance that makes him a handful to deal with. He is riding an extreme wave of confidence, as well, and for UFC analyst Thomas, that’s a collection of assets Yan will have serious trouble thwarting.
“He’s just a different level of human being,” Thomas said. “I don’t know how he gets beat right now. I think Petr Yan is a great fighter and he’s got so many tools and so good at what he does. I don’t see what he can do differently to stop Merab. Everybody has tried with that style. Stop the shot, stop the takedown. You just get punched in the face, then when you try to punch back, you get taken down anyway. I don’t know what they do differently.”
Thomas has been around MMA long enough to know that even when a fighter looks in their most prime form, anyone can be beaten. Yan claims he was operating at 50 percent for the first matchup in March 2023, which he lost by unanimous decision and saw Dvalishvili shoot the most takedowns ever in a UFC fight.
On paper, there are adjustments that Yan can make for the rematch, Thomas said. However, putting them into practice once the octagon door shuts is infinitely more difficult.
“Sean O’Malley was like, ‘You’ve got to catch him!’ That’s hard to do,” Thomas said. “Yes, but that’s how you win any fight. You can catch them. But it’s not a reliable way of winning fights, to just catch him. It’s hard to catch someone. … I think to beat Merab you have to be offensively wrestling him and attack him, then if you do get taken down, you can’t give up your back.
“You’ve got to try to sweep him and create scrambles, but you can’t give up your back. That’s what all these guys do and what they all train to do. It doesn’t work against Merab.”
To hear more from Thomas, check out his complete appearance on “The Bohnfire” podcast with MMA Junkie senior reporter Mike Bohn above.
