Petr Yan breaks down the ‘many mistakes’ he made during his first title reign after UFC 323 upset

Petr Yan reflects on his first title reign

Petr Yan put on a career-best performance to beat Merab Dvalishvili in the UFC 323 main event.

‘The Machine’ was on a 14-fight win streak and looked unstoppable ahead of their fight on Saturday night.

For many, Merab Dvalishvili‘s latest victory was a foregone conclusion because he dominated Yan for 25 minutes when they first fought in March 2023.

Everything was different in their rematch, as Yan restricted the Georgian wrestler to just two takedowns.

Dvalishvili was beaten bloody on the feet over the course of a monumental five-round upset in Las Vegas.

Ultimately, the cageside UFC 323 judges scored the fight 49–46, 49–46, and 48–47 for Yan.

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Post-fight, Yan reflected on what went wrong when he first became UFC champion five years ago.

“I streamlined myself to the belt really quick,” he told the UFC.

“I kind of felt like I already knew everything, and I had all the skills for everything.

“I underestimated how much goes into this championship mentality and the preparation to be a champ.

“I know which mistakes I allowed myself to make before that first fight.

“And I know that the big thing that was missing was teamwork.

This is something we have fixed, we are now a team.”