Merab Dvalishvili remains on the comeback trail after losing his UFC bantamweight championship to Petr Yan at the end of 2025. And splitting his focus between MMA and the Real American Freestyle wrestling mats may have cost him in his latest defeat.
At RAF 12 this past Saturday, Dvalishvili rematched Henry Cejudo after their July encounter, which ended with an 11-8 come-from-behind win for Dvalishvili. This time, Dvalishvili, 35, was pinned in only 36 seconds by his fellow former UFC champion.
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Speaking on Monday’s edition of “The Ariel Helwani Show,” Dvalishvili admitted he underprepared for the match. In the time since their July 11 showdown, Dvalishvili’s next MMA fight — a trilogy title tilt against Yan at UFC 333 in October — was made official.
“I knew it was a risk,” Dvalishvili acknowledged to Uncrowned.
“He was the one who called me and asked for this wrestling match. But I knew he was preparing for something — he was going to study me, and I don’t have time to really train for wrestling like this. I’m focused on my [UFC title] fight, always.
“If I have a wrestling match in RAF, I usually start a week before for preparation, as a second training, maybe go over little details. But yeah, I lost this match. I was smiling — if you saw me, I was happy for him, for his family. He deserves it. He beat me. I’m not mad. It’s a sport, and the sport has a risk. As long as I lose against a respectful opponent, I’m fine.”
The always-active Dvalishvili compared this latest loss to his last MMA fight in December. Just as he has no regrets about his RAF 12 experience, he also had no regrets about his decision to attempt four five-round fights in a single year with his UFC title run in 2025. “The Machine” knows the latter was a riskier choice than allowing himself the usual amount of prep time UFC champions take in the modern day.
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“I always like to take a risk, and I know I was taking a risk because I was busy [in 2025]. I know I was taking a risk with such a short time against a tough opponent [Yan] without a big game plan or something. I was just willing to fight and stay active,” Dvalishvili said.
“I take it and lost. I’m fine with it. I don’t regret or say, ‘What if I wait or fight in springtime?’ No. This is who I am, and this is the sport. We are taking risks. I was in worse condition the first time when I beat him [in 2023]. I had a broken hand, but I still beat him. Sometimes you just never know. I lost the fight, and I accept it. Now it’s 1-1, and I can’t wait to fight him again.”
Since the Yan loss, Dvalishvili has wrestled three times with RAF in 2026, starting with a win over former UFC champion Frankie Edgar before his pair of Cejudo matches.
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Now it’s all systems go for another dance with Yan on Oct. 24. Dvalishvili is eager to get back in action and right the wrongs of one of the sport’s biggest upsets of 2025.
“I love this fight. Petr is most dangerous guy in my weight class right now, and I’m very happy and grateful for fighting this guy. I have the toughest challenges, and usually I do very good when I know I have a tough opponent, tough challenge,” Dvalishvili said.
“I’m working very hard, but now I’m trying to be smart too. I was working hard for my last fight, but I was not taking breaks. I was just training and burning myself out. This time, I will take some time off. I will just relax a little bit more, and think about more. So I’m very good, and we will have a great match. People will watch this fight.”
Having opened as a betting underdog for UFC 333, Dvalishvili is relishing his return to that role after a dominant run as the 135-pound division’s king.
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“Yan, people [last year] were saying I already beat him, I’m going to beat him again. [They asked,] ‘Why are they making this fight?’ I knew that was a challenge for me,” Dvalishvili said.
“I knew that Petr Yan never will be easy fight for me. I knew. But it even surprised me how good he is and how hard he hits. If I don’t prepare really, really well, he will beat the s*** out of me again.”
