A huge bantamweight contender fight is set for March.
Former UFC bantamweight champion and current No. 2 ranked Petr Yan will take on No. 3 ranked Merab Dvalishvili on Mar. 11 at The Theater at Virgin Hotels in Las Vegas, NV. While the contracts have not been signed, the pair of top five bantamweights have verbally agreed to fight, a source confirmed to MMA Mania on Tuesday night.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal was the first to report the news.
Yan (16-4) is on the first two-fight losing streak of his career, losing back-to-back very close split decisions. Most recently, the 29-year-old lost to Sean O’Malley at UFC 280 in the Fight of the Night. (Watch highlights!) Before that, he lost to Aljamain Sterling in a title unification bout at UFC 273.
Merab Dvalishvili (15-4) is coming off the biggest win of his career. At UFC 278, he defeated former featherweight champion Jose Aldo via unanimous decision. The Georgian fighter is riding an eight-fight win streak with wins over Marlon Moraes, Cody Stamann, John Dodson, and Casey Kenney.