Merab Dvalishvili moments before his UFC 316 fight against Sean O'Malley split with Cory Sandhagen moments before his UFC Nashville main event with an inset of Petr Yan preparing for his fight against Deiveson Figueiredo. Credit: Elsa/Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images

UFC Abu Dhabi star wants back up role for UFC 320 title fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Cory Sandhagen

Originally posted on Bloody Elbow | By Jamie Theodosi | Last updated Jul 24, 2025 1:43 PM ET

Ahead of his fight this weekend at UFC Abu Dhabi, Petr Yan has his eyes set on playing the back up role for the UFC 320 co-main event.

This coming Saturday in the UFC Abu Dhabi co-main event, former bantamweight champion Petr Yan is set to clash against soaring contender Marcus McGhee.

Ahead of their clash, which was considered a bizarre booking by UFC fans, Yan claimed that he was promised a title shot before being told he would need to fight ‘The Maniac’.

And with that, the UFC boss Dana White recently announced that Merab Dvalishvili’s next title defense will come against Cory Sandhagen in the UFC 320 co-main event.

Petr Yan calls for back up role for UFC 320 title fight

Dvalishvili and Yan clashed two years ago in a Fight Night main event, which was dominated by ‘The Machine’ who of course went on to win the 135lb strap.

Since then, ‘No Mercy’ Yan has done well to bounce back from his losing streak by winning back-to-back fights, with the third in sight.

And ahead of his big fight this weekend and the UFC 320 co-main event in mind, the Russian has claimed that he would like to weigh in as the back up for the big title fight.

“I don’t think I should leapfrog anyone, the UFC have their own plans, I already beat Cory Sandhagen… I believe I should fight the winner and if they need someone to be back up for this fight I will accept that offer,” Yan told MMAFighting.

The 32-year-old admitted that there were talks for him to fight the popular Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC Baku earlier this year but the promotion instead opted for the fight against McGhee.

Petr Yan labels Merab Dvalishvili the greatest bantamweight of all time

Over the past few months, Merab Dvalishvili is getting far more recognition and is now being consistently labeled as the greatest bantamweight of all time.

And with that, even Yan has declared the Georgian as the greatest 135lb fighter of all time considering his recent run of wins in the division.

“Yeah, why not, he’s beat almost everyone at the top, and beat deservingly, so you can really say that he is right now the greatest in our division,” Yan said.

This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission.

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