Controversy
Yan vs. Dvalishvili 3 Scorecard: Was Merab Robbed at UFC 333?
Dvalishvili won the first two rounds on every card and out-landed Yan over the fight. A body kick in the third changed it, and the argument since has been about that round.
Yan
DvalishviliAt a glance
- ResultYan by unanimous decision - 48-47, 48-47, 48-47; referee Jason Herzog
- The judgesDavid Lethaby, Darryl Ransom and Vito Paolillo: rounds 1-2 Dvalishvili, rounds 3-5 Yan on every card
- The statsSignificant strikes 131-128 to Dvalishvili; 5 takedowns from a UFC-record 58 attempts
- The media19 of 20 media scorecards on MMADecisions had Yan winning
- The loserDvalishvili: "He beat me today. He's the better man."
- Our card48-47 Yan
What was at stake
The bantamweight title, and the last word in a rivalry that had swung hard both ways. In their first fight, at a UFC Fight Night on March 11, 2023, Merab Dvalishvili beat Petr Yan 50-45 on all three cards, which CBS Sports and the official record both show. He landed 11 takedowns from 49 attempts that night, according to CBS Sports and the official statistics.
Dvalishvili went on to win the title from Sean O'Malley in September 2024 and defend it three times, against Umar Nurmagomedov, O'Malley again and Cory Sandhagen, as theScore and the official record both show. The rematch with Yan at UFC 323 on December 6, 2025, was his fourth title fight of the year, which Cageside Press and MMA Junkie both note. Yan won it by unanimous decision, 49-46, 49-46 and 48-47, according to Cageside Press and the official record, and ended a 14-fight winning streak that went back to 2018.
So UFC 333 on October 24, 2026, was the rubber match, with the title on the line in the co-main event. It was Yan's first defense of his second reign, theScore notes, and he came in on four straight wins.
The official scorecards
Yan won 48-47 on all three cards. GiveMeSport and MMA Weekly both report that the three judges scored every round the same way: Dvalishvili the first two, Yan the last three, each round 10-9. theScore and MMADecisions' record of the fight say the same. Scores are written Yan first.
| Judge | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| David Lethaby | 9-10 | 9-10 | 10-9 | 10-9 | 10-9 | 48-47 |
| Darryl Ransom | 9-10 | 9-10 | 10-9 | 10-9 | 10-9 | 48-47 |
| Vito Paolillo | 9-10 | 9-10 | 10-9 | 10-9 | 10-9 | 48-47 |
Referee: Jason Herzog, according to the official statistics and Sherdog. UFC.com's scorecard page and theScore also give 48-47 on every card.
That left the fight level at two rounds each going into the fifth, and both corners knew it: CBS Sports' live coverage reported before the last round that both camps had it 2-2. Dana White said afterwards, according to UFC.com: "I think pretty much everybody had it scored the same, two to two going into that last round." Yan won the fifth on every card.
The media mostly agreed. All three of Sherdog's scorers had it 48-47 Yan with the same rounds as the judges, and so did CBS Sports' live scoring. MMADecisions lists 19 media scorecards for Yan and one for Dvalishvili, from Chris Connor of The Fight City.
The argument was about round 3, the one round that would have changed the result had it gone the other way. GiveMeSport reports that fans asked on social media how no judge had given it to Dvalishvili, and Athlon Sports collected fighters questioning the decision. Jessica Penne posted that she "had Merab winning", as Athlon Sports and Uncrowned both report, and Ilia Topuria met the scores with "48-47 Yan?" and a no, according to GiveMeSport and MMASucka.
Round by round
Round 1 - Dvalishvili on all three cards
Dvalishvili opened with low kicks and punches, which Sherdog and CBS Sports both describe ("a stout low kick and a sharp one-two", in Sherdog's words), and shot for takedowns from the start. Yan stopped most of them, and when Dvalishvili got him down late in the round he was quickly back up, according to Sherdog, CBS Sports and Cageside Press. Sherdog's play-by-play describes two takedowns; the official count credits one, from 10 attempts. The numbers are small and all Dvalishvili's: 8 significant strikes to 6, and 0:41 of control to 0:05.
Round 2 - Dvalishvili on all three cards
Dvalishvili's best wrestling round. He took Yan down again and again, Sherdog and Cageside Press report, and Yan kept getting back up; once he reversed the position, and he landed a knee, according to Sherdog and CBS Sports. Yan landed hard punches too, which Cageside Press and CBS Sports both note. But on the official count Dvalishvili out-landed him 23 to 17, completed 4 of 9 takedowns and had 0:54 of control.
Round 3 - Yan on all three cards
The disputed round. Dvalishvili kept pressing and landed a knee to the body at the fence, which Cageside Press and CBS Sports both describe. Then Yan landed a left kick to the body that hurt him: CBS Sports says it sent Dvalishvili "stumbling backward grabbing at his liver", Sherdog writes "Crushing body kick lands for Yan", and Cageside Press and Uncrowned describe the same moment. Dvalishvili recovered and kept coming, and Yan finished the round landing combinations, according to CBS Sports and Uncrowned.
On the official count, Dvalishvili won the round on volume: 31 significant strikes to 24, and 25 to 16 to the head. Yan landed all 4 of his body strikes and all 4 of his leg kicks. Dvalishvili tried 13 takedowns and landed none.
Round 4 - Yan on all three cards
Yan stopped every takedown, 15 of them on the official count, and worked the head and body with his hands. Cageside Press and CBS Sports both report a Yan head kick, and both describe Dvalishvili slowing down. The significant strikes were level at 29 each, but Dvalishvili needed 85 attempts to Yan's 57.
Round 5 - Yan on all three cards
The round that decided the title. Yan looked the fresher man and Dvalishvili's pace dropped, as CBS Sports and Cageside Press both describe. Yan landed a flying knee and kicks to the body, which Sherdog, Cageside Press and CBS Sports all report. Dvalishvili kept shooting, 11 more times without success, and kept throwing. Yan's 52 significant strikes from 88 attempts were the most either man landed in any round; Dvalishvili landed 40.
What the numbers say
The official statistics, round by round (Yan first; landed/thrown for significant strikes, landed/attempted for takedowns):
| Round | Sig. strikes | Head | Body | Legs | Takedowns | Control |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | 6/11 – 8/40 | 1 – 3 | 1 – 1 | 4 – 4 | 0/0 – 1/10 | 0:05 – 0:41 |
| R2 | 17/28 – 23/67 | 15 – 15 | 1 – 1 | 1 – 7 | 0/0 – 4/9 | 0:10 – 0:54 |
| R3 | 24/44 – 31/78 | 16 – 25 | 4 – 1 | 4 – 5 | 0/0 – 0/13 | 0:00 – 0:17 |
| R4 | 29/57 – 29/85 | 24 – 25 | 4 – 2 | 1 – 2 | 0/0 – 0/15 | 0:00 – 0:00 |
| R5 | 52/88 – 40/93 | 39 – 32 | 8 – 3 | 5 – 5 | 0/1 – 0/11 | 0:08 – 0:02 |
| Total | 128/228 – 131/363 | 95 – 100 | 18 – 8 | 15 – 23 | 0/1 – 5/58 | 0:23 – 1:54 |
This is why the decision drew an argument. Over 25 minutes Dvalishvili landed three more significant strikes than Yan, 131 to 128, and 159 strikes in all to Yan's 131. He out-landed Yan in each of the first three rounds and matched him in the fourth. Only the fifth went clearly Yan's way on the count, 52 to 40.
The takedown numbers are the other half of the story. Dvalishvili's 58 attempts are the most in a single UFC fight, as Uncrowned and MMA Junkie both report; theScore gives 56, but the official count is 58. The previous high in the official statistics was his own 49 against Yan in 2023. He landed 5, all in the first two rounds, and none of his last 39. Across their three fights he tried 136 takedowns and landed 18.
What the totals cannot show is damage, and accuracy hints at it. Yan landed 56% of his significant strikes to Dvalishvili's 36%, and 18 of his 19 body strikes. The round 3 body kick is the moment every report singles out, and White said afterwards that the kick to the body turned the momentum, according to UFC.com and MMASucka.
How we scored it
| Round | MMA.SOCIAL | Why |
|---|---|---|
| R1 | 10-9 Dvalishvili | The pressure, the only takedown and 0:41 of control in a quiet round; 8-6 in significant strikes. |
| R2 | 10-9 Dvalishvili | Four takedowns from nine attempts, 0:54 of control and 23-17 on the feet. Yan's punches were clean, but there were fewer of them. |
| R3 | 10-9 Yan | The closest round. Dvalishvili out-landed him 31-24, but the body kick visibly hurt him and drove him back, and Yan finished the round landing combinations. Thirteen missed takedowns score nothing. |
| R4 | 10-9 Yan | 29-29 on the count, but Yan landed the heavier shots, including the head kick, and stopped all 15 takedowns. |
| R5 | 10-9 Yan | 52-40 in significant strikes, the flying knee and the body kicks against a tiring opponent. |
| Total | 48-47 Yan |
Our card matches all three judges. The case for Dvalishvili in round 3 is real: he out-landed Yan by seven significant strikes and by nine to the head, and he never stopped coming forward. Give him that round and he wins 48-47. But the judging criteria reward strikes by their effect, not their number, and the one strike in that round that changed what happened next was Yan's. A takedown attempt that fails earns nothing, and Dvalishvili failed 13 times in the round.
That makes round 3 close, not a robbery. Every judge, Sherdog's three scorers and CBS Sports gave it to Yan, 19 of 20 media scorecards on MMADecisions had him winning the fight, and Dvalishvili himself did not dispute the result.
What happened next
Dvalishvili spoke to Daniel Cormier in the cage. "He beat me today. He's the better man," he said, according to MMA Junkie; Athlon Sports reports the same words. Yan, speaking through an interpreter at the press conference, said: "I'm very happy that this trilogy ended with me being on top." MMA Junkie and MMA Mania both carry that line, and both report that the two men shook hands afterwards.
The fight was named Fight of the Night, which UFC.com and Sherdog both report; Sherdog puts the bonus at $100,000 for each man. Yan is now 21-5 and Dvalishvili 21-6, according to Sherdog and Uncrowned, and Yan has won five fights in a row.
Yan's next challenger has not been named, Athlon Sports notes. White said at the press conference that the matchmakers were "texting the entire night" about Song Yadong and Sean O'Malley, according to UFC.com and Athlon Sports. For Dvalishvili the road back is longer: he has now lost twice in a row to the champion, and no fight has been announced for him.
The verdict
Yan vs. Dvalishvili 3 was close, and it was not a robbery. The judges agreed on every round, the media agreed with them 19 to 1, and the only disputed round, the third, turned on a body kick that did more than Dvalishvili's extra volume. Dvalishvili still deserves credit: he out-landed the champion over five rounds, set a UFC record for takedown attempts and came within one round of winning the title back. Yan won the round that decided it, the fifth, more clearly than any other, and leads their series 2-1.
Full fight stats: Yan vs. Dvalishvili 3. The rest of the night: UFC 333. More: the most takedowns in a UFC fight, the best takedown defense and the most title fights.
Sources
- UFCStats round-by-round statistics (scrape_ufc_stats mirror)
- UFCStats fight results, judges and referee (scrape_ufc_stats mirror)
- UFC.com - UFC 333 official scorecards
- UFC.com - UFC 333 results
- UFC.com - UFC 333 bonus coverage
- UFC.com - Dana White on UFC 333, Yan and Dvalishvili
- Sherdog - UFC 333 play-by-play, results and round scoring
- Sherdog - Volkanovski stops Evloev, Yan beats Dvalishvili at UFC 333
- Sherdog - UFC 333 event results
- Sherdog - Yan after his UFC 333 title defense (bonus)
- MMADecisions - Petr Yan vs. Merab Dvalishvili, UFC 333
- GiveMeSport - UFC 333 scorecards for Yan vs. Dvalishvili
- MMA Weekly via Yahoo Sports - UFC 333 official scorecard: Yan vs. Dvalishvili
- theScore - Yan edges out Dvalishvili in trilogy bout
- CBS Sports - UFC 333 results: Yan outduels Dvalishvili
- CBS Sports - UFC 333 live results and round scoring
- Uncrowned (Yahoo Sports) - Yan conquers Dvalishvili with come-from-behind win
- Uncrowned (Yahoo Sports) - Fighters react to Yan vs. Dvalishvili 3
- Cageside Press - Petr Yan bests Merab Dvalishvili in five-round title war
- MMA Junkie via Yahoo Sports - Dvalishvili humble after trilogy loss: "He's the better man"
- MMA Junkie via Yahoo Sports - Yan relieved to close trilogy
- MMA Mania via Yahoo Sports - Yan: Dvalishvili brought out the best in me
- Athlon Sports via Yahoo Sports - Dvalishvili reacts to the loss
- MMASucka - Topuria reacts to the decision
- Athlon Sports via Yahoo Sports - O'Malley pushes for a Yan rematch after UFC 333
- MMASucka - Dana White on Dvalishvili after UFC 333
- CBS Sports - Dvalishvili overwhelms Yan (March 2023)
- Cageside Press - UFC 323: Yan dethrones Dvalishvili
Questions
Who won Yan vs. Dvalishvili 3?
Petr Yan, by unanimous decision, 48-47 on all three cards, at UFC 333 on October 24, 2026. He kept the UFC bantamweight title and won the trilogy 2-1.
What were the Yan vs. Dvalishvili 3 scorecards?
David Lethaby, Darryl Ransom and Vito Paolillo all scored it 48-47 for Yan. Each gave Dvalishvili rounds 1 and 2 and Yan rounds 3, 4 and 5.
Was Merab Dvalishvili robbed against Petr Yan?
We do not think so. Round 3 was close: Dvalishvili out-landed Yan 31 to 24 in significant strikes, but a Yan body kick hurt him. 19 of 20 media scorecards on MMADecisions had Yan winning, and Dvalishvili said afterwards that Yan was the better man.
How many takedowns did Merab Dvalishvili attempt against Petr Yan?
The official count is 58 attempts and 5 takedowns, the most attempts in a UFC fight; theScore reported 56. All five came in the first two rounds, and Yan stopped all 39 attempts in rounds 3 to 5.
Who won the Yan vs. Dvalishvili trilogy?
Petr Yan, 2-1. Dvalishvili won the first fight 50-45 on all three cards in March 2023; Yan won the title from him at UFC 323 in December 2025 and kept it at UFC 333 in October 2026.
Who will Petr Yan fight next?
Nothing had been booked as of late October 2026. Dana White said after UFC 333 that the matchmakers were discussing Song Yadong and Sean O'Malley.
