Petr Yan lost by unanimous decision to Merab Dvalishvili at UFC Fight Night 221 after five rounds. For the former promotion champion, the loss was the third in a row and the fourth in the last five fights.
Koreshkov: ‘Dvalishvili’s functionality was really good’
What are your impressions of this fight?
– Until Peter’s front leg was beaten, he basically responded well with kicks. But as soon as he became left-handed (since his front leg was beaten, and he had to take it back), Merab no longer felt his blows. Although he hit the left well several times, Dvalishvili went forward, tensed up, threw punches himself and constantly alternated it all with wrestling. And it should be noted that the functionality of this one is really good. Because it was enough that the five rounds beat, fight and generally do not breathe in the same way.
Petya defended well, there were no such moments when he sat in the stalls. But it seemed that functionally Dvalishvili was an order of magnitude better: as if Peter had no desires or moods. But I don’t know how Peter’s camp went and how he recovered after the trip.
And Merab was loaded: jump, smile, move forward. It seemed to me that he was on a kind of courage, he understood that for him it was the fight of his life. Judging by what he said in his bestial interviews, he presents himself as against the enemy, against Russia.
– Why then does not everyone fight like Merab, if this is such a universal tactic: to beat and constantly try to translate.
– Not everyone will be able to fight like he did. Someone will tire in two minutes, someone in three, someone will last longer in a round. And he managed not to tire every five rounds. It was probably necessary to focus on some sort of meeting. Try to catch him in the aisle, meet him with your knee, try to shock him. Honestly, I don’t know – there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. But just “push” on the glasses – it doesn’t work with Merab. Even if he misses two shots, he clings to your leg, starts to sit behind you, holds you against the wall. And it’s not in your piggy bank, even if you get two hits. If his head was flying and he was in a groggy state, it would be different, he would just have to think every time whether to make a pass or not.
Petr hits very well, very technically, and he’s very trained, but there are guys who naturally have some power. For example, there is a fighter, Oleg Borisov, he fights in the same weight class, but his punch is a cannon. He brought together a lot of people with such a blow. I think Dvalishvili could go down with him too.
And Merab Yan just shook him, crushed him and beat his leg.
– Nikita Krylov said that Jan had some kind of leg injury.
“I also thought there was some kind of injury. Because the second or third low kick, and he immediately took his leg back. It was clear he was not well.
Emelyanov: ‘Dvalishvili had the same team as Sterling’
Georgy Emelyanov works as a trainer in Omsk, earlier Emelyanov trained with Peter, went to training camps in Brazil and supported Jan in the first fights in Russia, when he fought for the belt of the DIA league.
– I think the reason is that Peter is disheartened. If you look at it that way, he didn’t have very brilliant fights against the team that prepared Aljamain Sterling. Now these same people formed Merab Dvalishvili. Same team, same people. Peter had a very good first fight against Sterling, but there Sterling was not well prepared. And after that, they took a competent break for a year, prepared, tactically, they approached very competently, and Sterling was able to win two rounds, and they gave him the fight. In fact, they had collected the keys for Peter, they only had to reconfigure one more fighter for them. Dvalishvili, with his meager arsenal, did everything necessary to win, and nothing more. But Petya now seems to have no competent coach, not a specific coach somehow, but the work of a team that would be with him constantly. Why Dvalishvili has two coaches around, and Petya has his friend and manager around.
“Some say he lost his hunger.
– Probably, at first Petya was hungrier than now. Of course, he ate a little. I think the fighters who went to the title led a lot, and Peter was always ready to fight with anyone, he was okay with anyone. Of course, he ate, but I repeat: Petya did so much that all his life he took something from different halls, training with different people. But now he doesn’t have a coach who would take responsibility for the result. An athlete himself cannot behave at such a level.
– And what could he change tactically in 3-5 rounds?
– I think Petya shouldn’t have waited. And as if again he was a bit charged with hitting. We had the feeling that he was waiting for this passage, but it was not necessary to wait, but to throw punches and start doing it from the first round. As you can see, in terms of percentage, his fight defense turned out to be pretty good. Merab, overall, could probably only transfer a few times in five rounds.
– How do you see its prospects?
– Petr, with his training process and his desire to fight, can still win and even take back the belt, but we need a team that will be with him 24/7 and who will be responsible for his preparation.
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Live broadcasts of mixed martial arts tournaments take place on the federal channel, matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru websites. UFC Fight Night 221 aired on .
Source : MatchTV
I am Ashley Ortiz and I am a professional journalist working for Athletistic. My specialty is in sports journalism, particularly boxing. I have written articles for some of the most renowned publications on the subject, and my work has been featured across both print and digital media platforms.
