UFC is set to close out 2025 and its long-running partnership with ESPN. On December 6th, the promotion will deliver its final PPV, UFC 323, followed by UFC Fight Night: Royval vs Kape on December 13th, marking the official end of their seven-year deal. From there, the company will shift into its $7.7 billion Paramount+ CBS era in 2026. But as Dana White and Co. prepare for this seismic transition, the Merab Dvalishvili vs Petr Yan card faces worrying momentum in viewership.

In the last ESPN PPV card, the reigning 135lbs champ will look forward to his 4th defense of the year against familiar foe Petr Yan. Along with that anticipated main event, Alexandre Pantoja will return to the Octagon to face the surging Joshua Van, and the entirety of this card shapes up like a banger. But, as per the YouTube weigh-in viewership reports, there seems to be a lack of hype for this event in comparison to the past 2025 PPV cards.  

UFC 323 weigh-in pulls disappointing numbers on YouTube

“The #UFC323 live ceremonial weigh-ins on the #UFC YouTube channel peaked at 39K+ viewers. (8:00PM ET)” Popular social media account Jed I. Goodman posted all this year’s PPV event live viewership numbers on X.  

Now, if we look at the UFC’s last PPV card’s weigh-in numbers, they definitely sit quite low in comparison to other events this year. And that seems to be the recurring trend with Merab headlining cards, because just like UFC 323, his UFC 316 main event with Sean O’Malley also pulled a similar 40.9K peak. However, that’s not the case when the Georgian shows up as a co-main attraction.

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According to Jed I. Goodman’s presented stats, UFC 311 — headlined by Islam Makhachev vs Renato Moicano, with Merab Dvalishvili against Umar Nurmagomedov in the co-main, drew 95.8K viewers on YouTube, ranking only behind UFC 319: Dricus du Plessis vs Khamzat Chimaev’s peak of 105.4K.

Also, logically, as last-era PPV normally should trend upward, but instead it’s the opposite, so this just supports the idea further. And these disappointments had started from the poster release of the card itself, where fan comments like “They keep rehashing the same poster style” and “Pretty lazy poster” were circulating.

So whether it’s UFC 323’s champions Merab or Pantoja lacking star power, or the matchmaking failing to spark interest, whatever the case, their YouTube weigh-in viewership points to a grim ending to the ESPN era in terms of engagement. Still, there’s always a chance these fighters deliver some wild scraps and end up entertaining the live crowd.

At least Merab and Yan looked pretty animated during their weigh-in faceoff, promising to put on a show.  

Merab Dvalishvili and Petr Yan trade words at the weigh-ins  

The UFC 323 weigh-in YouTube count might be way lower than this year’s other marquee events, but ‘The Machine’ and ‘No Mercy’s verbal clash at weigh-ins still sparked some loud reactions from the fans. Both already brought serious heat at the pre-fight press conference, and they carried that same energy onto the big stage during the weigh-ins as well.

“Listen, guys, yes, yes, I understand this is his home. You’re supporting your boy. But this is an opportunity to prove to myself that I’m still the top of this division.”

Petr Yan said during his interview with Joe Rogan, which the crowd answered with heavy boos. Then Merab Dvalishvili grabbed the mic and dropped one of the coldest lines of his career.

“I will show him the true meaning of ‘No Mercy’ tomorrow,” ‘The Machine’ said.

That response was short, crisp, and somehow louder than any amount of shouting. With that single line, Merab Dvalishvili pretty much announced that he plans to unleash pure violence inside the Octagon. So don’t be surprised if the bantamweight champ steps beyond his usual approach and hunts for an ultimate finishing blow against the Russian at UFC 323.

That being said, do you think the UFC’s last PPV under ESPN will actually fly under the radar? Or will Merab vs Yan 2 steal all the attention? Let us know in the comments section below.