Known for his never-ending cardio inside the Octagon and his delightfully daredevil persona outside of it, there has long been a feeling that Merab Dvalishvili, the reigning UFC bantamweight champion known as "The Machine," is anything but human.

If, in fact, the durable Dvalishvili is merely just a man, let's at least refer to him by the moniker he has earned of UFC's new ironman -- a fighter who simply can't be slowed or even affected by the normal fighting pitfalls of injuries, fatigue or accumulated damage.

Dvalishvili (21-4), who turns 35 in January, will put that reputation to the test on Saturday when he completes a two-month turnaround to defend his 135-pound title against former champion Petr Yan (19-5) in a rematch that headlines the UFC 323 pay-per-view card from T-Mobile

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