Has Petr Yan really won against Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 333? Most would not question that, since the judges awarded the Russian a clear unanimous decision victory over his rival in Abu Dhabi. However, Yan’s win has come under some scrutiny from an ex-UFC champion, who argued that the judges overlooked some of the aspects the Georgian excelled at in the fight. 

The oversight came from former UFC bantamweight champion and Dvalishvili’s teammate Aljamain Sterling, who cornered ‘The Machine’ at UFC 333. ‘The Funkmaster’ found it odd that the judges scored Round 3 for Petr Yan.

“It’s just such a subjective thing,” Sterling said on the Weekly Scraps podcast. “One guy lands a lot more punches, and one guy has two big shots, and then all of a sudden it steals the entire round. It’s subjective, you know, and I know people say damage is what scores. And I agree damage should score, but what happened to all of the other damage? It’s not like it was a shot that sent him to the canvas or a shot that had him rocked or on skates or anything like that. 

“So, it’s a weird thing. It was a great fight, coin flip of a round for Round 3. I would have liked to see it go 10-10, but that’s never going to happen, and then the fight ends in a draw. I don’t feel like there was anyone that stood out in that fight. Of course, Petr Yan ended the fight strong; kudos to him, but scoring the fight round by round, I don’t feel like we got a definitive answer.” 

Sterling acknowledged that Round 3 was highly competitive, making it difficult to decide a clear winner. Hence, he thought the officials could have scored the round evenly. But the fact remains that he disagreed with the judges, who unanimously scored it 10-9 in favor of Petr Yan. 

Despite Sterling’s skepticism about the scorecards, the judges’ decision had some substance behind it in Yan’s favor.

According to the Unified Rules of MMA, damage always takes precedence over volume. The rule sounds rather straightforward, but the question of what actually counts as damage is difficult to answer. A simple explanation, however, is that the fighter who comes closer to finishing the fight in a round usually gets the nod from the judges. 

In the third round, Dvalishvili outlanded Yan 31 significant strikes to 24. But Yan nearly closed the show by landing a thudding body kick that drew a wincing reaction from the Georgian.

In the eyes of the judges, the Russian was close to finishing his opponent with that kick, which ultimately swung the round in his favor.  

A suitable example is Marlon Vera vs. Rob Font, which took place on April 30, 2022. The stats show Font held a significant edge in overall striking numbers over his opponent. However, Vera rocking Font multiple times during the bout compelled the judges to score the fight in ‘Chito’s’ favor by unanimous decision. 

However, the former UFC bantamweight champion was not the only one to question Yan’s win over his friend Dvalishvili. Another ex-champ soon joined that list. 

Ilia Topuria got roasted for thinking Merab Dvalishvili won against Petr Yan 

Just like Aljamain Sterling, the former UFC two-division champion Ilia Topuria also had doubts about the decision. Topuria watched the fight from his home country, Georgia, and could not hide his livid reaction when Petr Yan was announced the winner.

“Who watched the fight?” Topuria said on livestream. “48-47, Yan? No. What are you saying? Who won? Merab won, yes.”

‘El Matador’ did not provide a detailed explanation like Sterling on his stream. However, it was clear that he also disagreed with the judges for declaring Petr Yan the winner.

The fans quickly noticed it and pushed back against Topuria. Still, Sean O’Malley almost mocked Topuria for his frustration over Dvalishvili’s loss and even roasted him by referencing his Justin Gaethje loss.

“I heard a couple people, I heard Ilia saying, ‘What fight are the judges watching?!’ I’m like, how hard did Justin Gaethje hit you?” O’Malley said during a podcast with MMA Guru. “What fight were you watching, brother? I get it when you’re biased; it’s your boy, but that was just- they’re both savages, but Petr Yan won that fight.” 

Despite Sterling’s and others’ disagreement with the judges, the reality is that Petr Yan emerged the winner once again in a contest with Dvalishvili. 

A quadrilogy could possibly settle that debate, but that is a distant possibility considering the Russian would most likely defend his title against O’Malley or Song Yadong. On the other hand, ‘The Machine’s’ second loss to Yan would require him to climb the ladder once again to earn a title shot.