Merab Dvalishvili vs. Petr Yan 2, Flyweight Title Fight and More Announced for UFC 323

The final UFC pay-per-view of 2025 has its headliners.

On Monday, UFC CEO Dana White announced that bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvilli (21-4) will aim for a record fourth title defense of the year when he faces Petr Yan (19-5) in the main event of UFC 323 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on December 6.

No UFC fighter has ever successfully defended a title four times in a calendar year.

The co-main event of UFC 323 has also been announced, with flyweight champion Alexandre Pantoja (30-5) set to defend his title against Joshua Van (15-2). This is Pantoja’s fifth consecutive defense of his 125-pound championship.

This news was actually broken by Van’s teammate Michael Aswell, who campaigned to be on the same card as his teammate during a post-fight interview at UFC Rio on Saturday following Aswell’s first-round victory over Lucas Almeida.

Dvalishvili, currently No. 3 on the MMA Fighting pound-for-pound list, has won 14 straight fights since starting his UFC career 0-2. He defeated Cory Sandhagen in October to record his third title defense following victories over Sean O’Malley and Umar Nurmagomedov earlier this year.

In their first fight in March 2023, Dvalishvili defeated Yan by unanimous decision. That loss put Yan on a three-fight skid, but he has since bounced back with three straight wins and both fighters have publicly expressed their desire to turn back the clock.

Pantoja has already successfully defended his belt once this year, defeating Kai Kara-France by third-round submission at UFC 317 in June. His other victories as champion came against Kai Asakura, Steve Erceg and Brandon Royval. Among UFC champions, Pantoja currently has the longest active defense streak, trailing him with three.

This is a huge opportunity for Van, who just turned 24 in October and has only been competing as a professional since 2021. Van emerged as a top prospect by finishing seven of his first eight opponents before signing with the UFC in 2023. He has won five straight fights, including a crucial win over Royval in a Fight of the Year contender at UFC 317, and his UFC record stands at 8-1.

In addition to the two title fights, former bantamweight champion Henry Cejudo returns to action against rising star Payton Talbott in an intriguing clash at 135 pounds. Also on the card, former UFC light heavyweight champion Jan Blachowicz looks to bounce back when he faces Bogdan Guskov at the final pay-per-view event in 2025.

The December 6 event also marks the end of the UFC’s seven-year broadcast partnership with ESPN, with the promotion moving to a new seven-year deal with Paramount in 2026.