Mar 11, 2023; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Petr Yan (red gloves) fights Merab Dvalshvili (blue gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Virgin Hotel. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports

Robert Whittaker sees no path to victory for Petr Yan against Merab Dvalishvili.

Dvalishvili (21-4 MMA, 14-2 UFC) defends his bantamweight title in a rematch against Yan (19-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC), which headlines Saturday's UFC 323 (pay-per-view, ESPN2/FX/Disney+, ESPN+) event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Dvalishvili was all over Yan in their first fight in March 2023, where he attempted a UFC-record 49 takedowns en route to a suffocating unanimous decision win. Whittaker thinks with the vast improvements Dvalishvili has shown in his game – where he defended his belt against Umar Nurmagomedov, Sean O'Malley, and Cory Sandhagen, Yan will have a hard time once again.

"Obviously, he's a wrestler, and his wrestling game is just so strong and he uses that to such devastating effect," Whittaker told FOX Sports Australia. "He's only getting better in my eyes. Everyone can attest his weakness is his standup, but over the last five fights, I want to say, his standup has gotten significantly better. And I think him having to stand with the caliber of striker that he has been has just forced him to climb to a new level of like striking defensiveness, striking safety, but also offensively striking once he's established the threat of the takedown.

"Bar a puncher's chance, I just don't see where a weakness of his is right now. There's always a puncher's chance in every fight. Him shooting the same time Petr decides to throw a knee – it could happen. It could happen in any fight against anyone. Let's take that tidbit out of the equation. I don't see it going any different. I think he's gotten defensively more sound with his striking. I think he's much more comfortable striking and mixing in the takedowns."

Dvalishvili will look to achieve something no fighter ever has by successfully defending his UFC title four times in a year. Whittaker thinks "The Machine's" incredible activity is largely to do with his fighting style.

"It is wild, and you can kind of see it because his style doesn't lend itself to taking a lot of damage," Whittaker said. "So the ability to get back in there and get back to work, as well as like his fight style, and I think everyone can agree, it looks like he never stops. Like, I'm pretty sure the next day he's out running, out jogging, doing something crazy like that."

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Robert Whittaker: Petr Yan suffers same fate vs. Merab Dvalishvili

Reporting by Farah Hannoun, MMA Junkie / MMA Junkie

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