UFC: Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili – live results, highlights
Aljo #Aljo
Stay up to date with what’s happening today at UFC Vegas 71, which is not going down from APEX facility, rather The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada.
We’ve got top-5 bantamweights gracing the UFC Vegas 71 main event when the former champion, Petr Yan, gets it on with the UFC’s #3 rated 135-pounder, Merab Dvalishvili.
In an alternate universe, Yan is sitting at 11-0 in the UFC, and is still the promotion’s bantamweight champ. He never blasted Aljamain Sterling with that knee to lose his belt on a disqualification, and he certainly didn’t lose the split nod in their rematch. He surely didn’t drop that split decision to Sean O’Malley in his last fight, so he’s definitely about to defend his belt for the fifth time here.
Unfortunately for Petr, he’s stuck in this time line. He’s 8-3 with the promotion, lost twice to Aljo, failed to beat O’Malley, and he never actually defended his title after winning it. That means Yan should be due for a bit of a softball, right? Not a chance! Petr is going after the owner of an eight fight wining streak in Merab Dvalishvili, who is a fighter that is impossible to look good against. I will say this about Yan, though. Show me a better world class caliber fighter that has gone 1-3 in their last four. You can’t.
The main card is slated for 6:00pm ET/3:00pm PT, and the preliminary bouts begin at 3:00pm ET/12:00pm, PT — all of which can be streamed on ESPN+.
Main card: (6:00pm ET) Merab Dvalishvili def. Petr Yan by unanimous decision (50-45 x3): Bantamweight
Dvalishvili was diving for the legs of Yan right away, but the former champ was holding his own in the scrambles. Yan started to attack the lead leg of Dvalishvili, and then was warned by the ref about extending his fingers. Dvalishvili kept searching for the takedown, and he was getting his entries, but Yan was doing well with finding space. After being warned for his fingers again, Yan went for a takedown of his own but ended up underneath Dvalishvili. Yan got up, but Dvalishvili kept ahold of the head.
Of course Dvalishvili returned to his takedown to open the second round, but Yan was again able to stay on his feet. Dvalishvili was unloading a variety of attacks, mixing up his kicks and punches. A stinging leg kick from Dvalishvili got the attention of Yan, making him switch up his stance. With just under two minutes left in the round, Yan kicked out a leg to get a takedown, but Merab was right back to his feet. Then Dvalishvili went to his own takedown, and he couldn’t keep Yan down either, but this was clearly his round.
The pace continued to be dictated by Dvalishvili. He was mixing up his striking with his takedowns so well, that it was making it difficult for Yan to get his own offense going. Credit to Yan for continuing to try, and for not breaking, but at this point Dvalishvili had successfully turned this into his kind of fight.
The fourth act began with Dvalishvili closing the distance once again. Yan reversed the clinch to put Dvalishvili on the fence, but Merab started to grab and smack his ass. They broke apart and began going back and forth on the feet. Yan started to score some punches of his own, but a leg kick caused him switch back to southpaw.
Dvalishvili continued to be the aggressor in the final act, with his gas tank seeming to still have plenty left. He clinched up with Yan and made him carry his weight for a bit, and then broke free to score with some more strikes. Yan started to rally a bit, trying desperately to make something happen, but Dvalishvili’s ability to go to his wrestling was an ace in the hole.
Alexander Volkov def. Alexandr Romanov by TKO at 2:16 of round 1: Heavyweight
Romanov shot in right away as expected, but Volkov was ready to defend the takedown. Volkov tagged up Romanov a few times to force a desperation takedown. Volkov easily sprawled and then began dropping punch after punch. the ref gave Romanov plenty of chances to improve his position, but the onslaught proved to be too much, and the match was halted.
Nikita Krylov def. Ryan Spann by submission (Triangle) at 3:38 of round 1: 215-pounds
The fighters went at it right away, swinging for the fences with both missing with most of their shots. They tangled up and started to grapple, and Spann found himself attacking with an arm-in guillotine. Krylov found a way to get out of it, and some fire scrambles broke out. Krylov went for a guillotine of his own, and then found himself on the back. Spann shook him off, but landed right in a triangle. Krylov secured the sub, Spann tapped out, and that was that!
Jonathan Martinez def. Said Nurmagomedov by unanimous decision (29-28 x3): Bantamweight
Nurmagomedov was peppering Martinez with an assortment of kicks to get this one going. It looked like one of them actually dropped Martinez for just a moment. Once they tied up, Nurmagomedov wasted no time in taking the back. He quickly attacked with a rear-naked choke, but Martinez gritted through it to escape to his feet. We got some more flashy striking out of Nurmagomedov, which prompted Martinez to clinch up against the cage.
It took less than a minute for Nurmagomedov to hit a takedown in the second round. Credit to Martinez for using a cool break dancing move to back to his feet. From there, Martinez clinched up with Nurmagomedov, pressing him against the cage for some time. Once they broke free, Nurmagomedov looked exhausted and Martinez was launching leg kicks.
Martinez slipped in the final round, and Nurmagomedov took top position. After a scramble, Nurmagomedov found his way to the back threatening with an RNC. Martinez worked to stand to his feet, and Nurmagomedov hopped off. Finishing out the round we got more of the same sort of clinch work against the cage from Martinez that we saw in the second round.
Mario Bautista def. Guido Cannetti by submission (RNC) at 3:18 of round 1: Bantamweight
After a series of spinning kicks from Cannetti, Bautista shot in and took the fight down to the ground. After being controlled for a bit, Cannetti exploded up to his feet and landed a takedown of his own. Bautista worked up, and took Cannetti back to the ground. Cannetti stood up, but got suplexed right into a rear-naked choke. Bautista had the choke sunk, and then forced Cannetti to tap out before he even had a chance to defend!
Vitor Petrino def. Anton Turkalj by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27 x2): Light Heavyweight
Petrino realized a takedown within the first 30-seconds of the fight, but it didn’t stay there for very long. In open space, both fighters were swinging a bit wild, and both were missing. Petrino took a knee to the cup, which brought on a short pause to the action. The fight resumed and Petrino put hands on Turkalj. He was tagging him and making him wobble all over the place. Turkalj went down, but then landed a slick up kick that badly dazed Petrino. Vitor quickly recovered and got on top to end the round there.
Petrino bombed on Turkalj again to open the second act. Turkalj’s head was getting snapped all over the place, resulting in Petrino getting on top again. Turkalj recovered remarkably quickly, and scrambled his way onto the back, but Petrino exploded to spin around in the full guard. Credit to Turkalj for continually standing up, but he was struggling to stop the takedown. Somehow, Turkalj grappled his way to the back, but again was unable to hold the position. In open space, Turkalj unleashed a flurry that rocked Petrino, but couldn’t avoid getting tangled up in the clinch.
Turkalj was able to force his way into the backpack position, but again Petrino spun around on top. Petrino then jumped on a rear-naked choke without the hooks, which gave Turkalj all the space he needed to escape. Turkalj went to the back again, but it was only a matter of time before Petrino reversed him yet again. The fighters jockeyed for position down the stretch, with neither man ever being able to fully take over.
Prelims: (3:00pm ET) Karl Williams def. Łukasz Brzeski by unanimous decision (30-26 x2, 30-27): Heavyweight
Williams went hard for the takedown to get things going here, and although he got Brzeski down a few times, he was never able to fully solidify top position. He burned through a bunch of energy wrestling, and had nothing to show for his efforts once Brzeski finally broke free. It was Brzeski who was landing the better strikes on the feet, but he looked downright exhausted at the end of the first round.
Williams scored a huge knockdown in the opening moments of the second round. He then lifted up Brzeski just to slam him right back down. He took top position and proceeded to score with some ground and pound, but somehow Brzeski found a way back to his feet. A spinning elbow connected on the break, followed by Williams showing big signs of fatigue. Williams had enough left in the takedown to drive through a takedown, and was able to rack up some control time. He did slip on a banana peel at the end of the round, gifting top position to Brzeski for just a moment.
Brzeski seemed to be somewhat fresh to start the final round. he landed a few good strikes on the feet, but it wasn’t long before Williams got him back down to the ground. Williams put the grind on a turtled up Brzeski, staying on top of him while sprinkling down punches. Brzeski was out of answers, and resigned to just covering up until the bell.
Davey Grant def. Raphael Assunção by technical submission (Inverted Triangle) at 4:43 of round 3: Bantamweight
Assunção caught a kick early in the opening round to find top position. He forced Davey to carry his weight until he was finally able to free himself. In open space, Assunção was switching his stance back and forth, making it difficult for Grant to get a read.
Assunção shot in for the takedown to open the second stanza, but Grant fought hard to remain vertical and get back to open space. Grant started to unload some volume, but Assunção was doing a great job of staying elusive to avoid the brunt of most of Davey’s strikes. The problem was he was being mostly defensive. Towards the end of the round, Assunção finally grabbed ahold of Grant to get him down against the fence. That’s where the round ended.
Grant took the lead agin in the final round, pressuring Assunção backwards. Davey then connected with a huge punch around the ear that rocked Assunção and sent him stumbling. Assunção landed a desperation takedown, but Grant was quick to get back up. Assunção shot again, but Grant used the fence to stop the takedown. The referee saw the infraction and instantly stepped in to deduct a point. The fight resumed and Grant dropped Assunção with a crazy spinning backfist. In a wild exchange, Assunção shot in again, but Grant locked up an inverted triangle that put Raphael to sleep! HOLY SMOKES!!!!
What a fight, what a round, and what a career for Raphael Assunção. The longtime veteran left his gloves in the Octagon, signaling the end of a lengthy career that ends at a highly respectable 27-10. Assunção is surely one of the greatest fighters to never compete for a major title.
Josh Fremd def. Sedriques Dumas by submission (Guillotine) at 3:00 of round 2: Middleweight
Dumas was the first to land clean here. He clipped Fremd with a big right, but Josh quickly recovered. Fremd then connected with a big punch of his own to stagger Dumas. A gorgeous double leg from Fremd came next, to plant Dumas on his back. Dumas fought off a guillotine attempt to stand back up to his feet, but this was Fremd’s round.
Fremd stung Dumas again early in the second round, and then hit a beautiful whizzer kick to get on top. As Dumas tried to scramble out, Fremd attacked with another guillotine. This time, Dumas had nowhere to go as his back was to the cage, and elected to tap out.
Victor Henry def. Tony Gravely by split decision (30-27, 29-28, 28-29): Bantamweight
This one was competitive right away. They exchanged leg kicks back and forth, with neither man really being too effective. Gravely was the first to shoot a takedown, but Henry was hip to it and remained standing. Later on in the round, Gravely went back to the takedown and was able to get it. Henry stood right up, so Tony didn’t do much with it, but it happened.
Henry came out in the second throwing a lot more volume. He had Gravely shooting takedowns from far away, allowing him to see them coming. Henry continued to unload his offense, trying to overwhelm Gravely. Unfortunately for Henry, he gave up a takedown to stall out his momentum. After quickly scrambling up, Henry went right back to unloading his crazy volume. Tony dove on another takedown, but ate a bunch of Travis Browne elbows for his efforts.
The volume for henry was still there to open the final act, prompting Gravely to shoot in again. The takedown defense for Henry was also still holding up. Gravely was coming forward with a lot heavier punches than he was throwing in the previous rounds, knowing that he needed to do some damage. henry stood his ground, though, and fought through fatigue to maintain a frenzied pace. In a scramble, Henry rolled for a kneebar, forcing Gravely to fight out of a bad situation.
Ariane Lipski def. JJ Aldrich by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): (W) Flyweight
This one was calculated from the word go. Aldrich was working her solo punches, while Lipski was scoring with a little more volume. JJ started to look for the takedown, but Lipski had some piercing knees to the midsection waiting for her on the inside. With about 10-seconds to go in the round, a huge right hand landed for Lipski that sent Aldrich stumbling.
Aldrich seemed to be fully recovered to begin the second round. She started to pressure forward behind her boxing combos, but she wasn’t really connecting. Lipski started to get her volume going, keeping JJ on the outside. Aldrich returned to looking for the takedown, but even when she had good entries, she still wasn’t able to get the fight down.
The final frame saw a more aggressive start for Aldrich. She was initiating the exchanges trying to make something happen, but Lipski was on tonight. Lipski fired away with sharp fundamental combos, touching her target without being touched back. Aldrich then got really close to a takedown, but the defense of Lipski continued to be there late in the fight.
Bruno Silva def. Tyson Nam by technical submission (RNC) at 1:23 of round 2: Flyweight
Nam was being the aggressor early here, stalking forward behind a lot of feints. Silva responded with some stinging counters, including a crafty spinning backfist. Tyson kept the pressure on, and was getting through with a couple of hard rights, but the better striking was coming from the direction of Silva.
A massive up kick to the face from Silva opened up the second stanza, sending a dazed Nam to the canvas. Silva followed his foe to the floor, and grabbed ahold of an RNC in transition. The back was then fully taken, the hooks were set, and Tyson Nam was put to sleep! WOAH!!!
Carlston Harris def. Jared Gooden by unanimous decision (30-27 x3): Welterweight
This was quite a unique stylistic matchup. Both guys were sort of just agreeing to exploding towards one another, before resetting and then exploding again. It was car crash after car crash. Neither man was looking sharp, but Harris was getting through with the better shots.
Harris closed the distance to start the second act. He pressed Gooden against the cage, and kept working until he realized a takedown. The lockdown top pressure was then engaged, and Harris proceeded to own Gooden on the mat. He didn’t exactly dish out a ton of damage, but he did totally dominate this round.
With all of the success he had in the second round, Harris went right back to his grappling in the final frame. This time, he was able to take the back with ample time left on the clock. Gooden managed to scramble his back to his feet a couple of times, but unfortunately for him, Harris kept putting back on his butt.
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About the author: Eddie Mercado has covered combat sports since 2015. He covers everything from betting odds to live events and fighter interviews. He holds a 1-0 record in pro MMA and holds a purple belt in Jiu-Jitsu. (full bio)