UFC Fighters Lean 4-3 Toward Petr Yan in Dvalishvili Trilogy
Seven UFC fighters were asked to call the third fight between bantamweight champion Petr Yan and Merab Dvalishvili, the co-main event of UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi on Saturday. Four of them picked Yan, three went with Dvalishvili, and several said they expect it to be close.
The betting market also sides with the titleholder: Yan is listed at -158, Dvalishvili at +124.
Who picked Yan
- Drakkar Klose (lightweight) said he would love to see Yan win and expects him to repeat his game plan from their last meeting.
- Kai Kamaka III (featherweight) pointed out that Yan kept the previous fight standing, where he is very technical, and that every round starts on the feet. He predicts a Yan decision similar to the last bout.
- Kyle Nelson (lightweight) called the last fight "telling" and said Yan had figured Dvalishvili out a bit.
- Marcus McGhee (bantamweight) also expects Yan to follow a very similar plan to the one that worked before.
Who picked Dvalishvili
Two of the three Dvalishvili picks rest on the same idea: his busy schedule hurt him last time. Bantamweight Dan Ige said Dvalishvili was "overworked a bit last year" and will reclaim his belt.
John Castaneda, another bantamweight, agreed that the result of the previous fight came down to how busy Dvalishvili had been, and said the time he has had to rest his body should help him a lot in the trilogy.
Light heavyweight Modestas Bukauskas called it a tough and "super interesting" fight that could go either way, but thinks Dvalishvili can edge out a close decision.
Source: BJPENN.COM