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Fight By Fight Preview | UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs Yan 2
Setting The Stage For The Final Numbered Event Of 2025 This Weekend
By E. Spencer Kyte, on X @spencerkyte
Saturday night, the UFC makes its fourth and final appearance of the year at T-Mobile Arena, bringing a stacked 14-fight card capped with twin championship fights.
UFC 323: Dvalishvili vs Yan 2 is, on paper, the best card of the year, surpassing last month’s outstanding lineup at Madison Square. Each of the three non-title main card fights feature former champions facing ascending contenders, while the prelim slate is packed with competitive matchups, including a handful carrying immediate divisional significance.
Bantamweight Championship Main Event: Merab Dvalishvili vs Petr Yan
Bantamweight champ Merab Dvalishvili looks to make history as he puts his title on the line for the fourth time this year, stepping in against ex-champ and perennial contender Petr Yan in Saturday night’s main event.
“The Machine” has been just that in every sense in 2025, showcasing not only his bottomless gas tank and unrelenting style in the cage, but also in competing with alarming frequency for a champion. It was only two months ago that he turned back Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320, registering his third win, third title defense, and 14th consecutive victory overall. On top of that, just as he suggested he would, Dvalishvili has gotten right back at it and is ready to defend his title again this weekend.
Yan put himself in position to face the champion by extending his winning streak to three this summer with a unanimous decision victory over Marcus McGhee in Abu Dhabi. The former champion remains one of the most complete fighters on the roster and looks to close out the year by dethroning the dominant Georgian.
These two faced off in March 2023 main event as Dvalishvili was on his ascent, and the current titleholder earned a clean sweep of the scorecards. Yan suggested he was significantly limited in that contest due to injuries and will get the opportunity to show how differently things can go here. That said, it’s worth noting that Dvalishvili has continued to show improvements in all facets of his game since then and would like nothing more than to wrap up the year by becoming the first UFC champion to successfully defend their title four times in one year.
Flyweight Championship Co-Main Event: Alexandre Pantoja vs Joshua Van
Before the bantamweight title goes up for grabs, flyweight ruler Alexandre Pantoja makes his customary December defense of his title, facing off with 2025 breakout star Joshua Van in what has the potential to be a fascinating matchup.
This is the third straight year Pantoja has defended his title in December, having bested Brandon Royval and Kai Asakura in his last two winter trips to Las Vegas. Earlier this year at UFC 317, the Brazilian superstar dominated and submitted Kai Kara-France to earn his fourth consecutive successful title defense and eighth straight win overall, prompting the a serious discussion about the all-time best fighters at 125-pounds.
Van only made his UFC debut in June 2023, yet he heads into this one with an 8-1 record inside the Octagon, including a 5-fight winning streak, and is poised to close out the year challenging for championship gold. After rolling through Rei Tsuruya in March, the 24-year-old from Houston (by way of Myanmar) stopped Bruno Silva at UFC 316 and then hustled back into action three weeks later and out-worked Brandon Royval at UFC 317 to claim his place as the No. 1 contender.
What makes this matchup so compelling is that while Van, a dynamic athlete 10-plus years Pantoja’s junior with outstanding hands and improving grappling, profiles as a genuine threat to the champion, “The Cannibal” is on an absolute heater right now. This could be an instance where the champion is tested or another “you’re not on my level” showing against a young standout who should remain a fixture in the title picture for the foreseeable future. Seeing how things play out is going to be riveting.
Additional Main Card Matchups
Brandon Moreno vs Tatsuro Taira
On a night where the title is up for grabs, Brandon Moreno and Tatsuro Taira face off to potentially determine who is next in line for a championship opportunity in the flyweight division.
After suffering consecutive split decision losses to Pantoja and Royval and taking a little time away to recharge, the former champ Moreno returned to form over his last two outings with wins over Amir Albazi and Steve Erceg in consecutive main event matchups. The 31-year-old Mexican standout hasn’t been in a 3-round fight since his first clash with Royval all the way back at UFC 255 and will surely look to lean on his edge in experience here.
Taira suffered the first loss of his career last October in an entertaining battle with Royval that earned the duo Fight of the Night honors. He was slated to return to action against Albazi in August, but “The Prince” was forced out with an injury, resulting in the Japanese prospect squaring off with HyunSung Park instead, with Taira controlling the action from the outset and securing a second-round stoppage win.
This one isn’t as “old guard versus new guard” as the two bouts that will precede it on Saturday night as Moreno is still only 31 years old, but he is 33 fights deep into his career with several of those being knock-down, drag-out affairs that add extra miles to the odometer. It will be interesting to see how he approaches his first 3-round fight in some time and what approach Taira takes to dealing with the former 2-time titleholder here.
Henry Cejudo vs Payton Talbott
Henry Cejudo makes his final walk to the Octagon at UFC 323, wrapping up his illustrious combat sports career with a challenging assignment against emerging standout Payton Talbott.
“Triple C” pressed pause on his career after successfully defending the bantamweight title against Dominick Cruz at UFC 249 in May 2020, returning three years later. Since then, the former 2-division champion and Olympic gold medalist has failed to register a win, dropping decisions to Aljamain Sterling, Merab Dvalishvili, and Song Yadong, the last of which came after Cejudo was unable to continue following an accidental eye poke.
One of the top breakout candidates in the UFC heading into this year, Talbott’s considerable step up in competition in January at UFC 311 resulted in his first loss. But the Reno native rebounded in impressive fashion during International Fight Week, dominating the final round of his clash with fellow prospect Felipe Lima to get himself back into the win column.
Matchups like this are always interesting because the “nothing to lose” nature of Cejudo competing for the final time is a bit of a wild card; he could be more willing to throw caution to the wind because another setback doesn’t change anything, or it may prompt him to be less aggressive so as to avoid getting sent off into the retirement as a part of Talbott’s highlight reel. For the DWCS grad, it’s an opportunity to wrap up the year collecting the biggest win of his career and potentially catapulting himself into the rankings, especially if he can dispatch Cejudo with style points.
Jan Blachowicz vs Bogdan Guskov
The UFC 323 main card opens in the light heavyweight division, with former champion Jan Blachowicz aiming to halt a 3-fight winless run as he steps in against surging finisher Bogdan Guskov.
Blachowicz makes his second appearance of the year after missing all of 2024 following shoulder surgery. The Polish veteran has dropped consecutive contests, hasn’t registered a win since collecting an injury-based stoppage victory over Aleksandar Rakic, and is just 1-3-1 in five fights since preventing Israel Adesanya from becoming a 2-weight world champion in 2021.
Guskov enters this weekend’s contest from the opposite end of the spectrum, having earned four straight stoppage wins since dropping his short-notice debut and is looking like a potential contender on the rise. Last time out, the 33-year-old from Uzbekistan knocked out Nikita Krylov in the first round, pushing his record to 18-3 overall in the process.
Can the former champ flash his Legendary Polish Power, or will “Czarevitch” score a fifth straight win to establish himself as a title threat in the 205-pound ranks?
Preliminary Card Pairings
Grant Dawson vs Manuel Torres
Saturday’s prelims wrap in the lightweight division, with 13th-ranked Grant Dawson facing off with fellow DWCS alumnus Manuel Torres.
More than two years removed from his lone UFC setback, Dawson aims to extend his winning streak to four and build off his decision win over Diego Ferreira back at the start of the year. Torres landed on the wrong side of things at Noche UFC last year but bounced back with a violent stoppage win over Drew Dober in Mexico City to advance to 4-1 inside the Octagon.
Terrance McKinney vs Chris Duncan
Terrance McKinney and Chris Duncan politely discussed facing one another after Duncan’s most recent victory, and this weekend, they’ll share the Octagon at T-Mobile Arena.
McKinney enters on a 2-fight winning streak, having earned consecutive first-round victories over Damir Hadozivc and Viacheslav Borshchev to move to 4-1 over his last five appearances. The 32-year-old Duncan comes in on a 3-fight run of success, having most recently landed on the positive side of things in an absolute brawl with Mateusz Rebecki.
Maycee Barber vs Karine Silva
Top-10 flyweights Maycee Barber and Karine Silva face off in a battle of potential contenders looking to build some momentum heading into next year.
Though she enters on a 6-fight winning streak, this will be Barber’s first fight in 21 months as health issues have kept “The Future” out of action since her UFC 299 win over Katlyn Cerminara. A member of the DWCS Class of 2021, Silva has gone 5-1 to begin her UFC tenure, most recently bouncing back from her first promotional defeat with a unanimous decision win over compatriot Dione Barbosa.
Nazim Sadykhov vs Fares Ziam
Nazim Sadykhov and Fares Ziam clash in another matchup of ascending lightweights on Saturday’s UFC 323 preliminary card.
A New Yorker that now calls Las Vegas home, Sadykhov looks for his third win of 2025 in this one after earning stoppage victories over Ismael Bonfim and Nikolas Motta in the first half of the year. Ziam pushed his winning streak to five with a unanimous decision victory over Mike Davis and is one of the most intriguing dark horses in the loaded lightweight division.
Marvin Vettori vs Brunno Ferreira
Middleweight Top 15 mainstay Marvin Vettori looks to get things moving in the right direction again this weekend, while Brazil’s Brunno Ferreira sees his third consecutive pay-per-view victory.
A former title challenger and staple in the 185-pound weight class for the last decade, Vettori has dropped three straight and struggled to find much success these past few years, though he’s been sharing the Octagon with the division’s elite each time. Ferreira has gone 5-2 since earning a contract on Season 6 of Dana White’s Contender Series, having maintained his 100-percent finishing rate while earning consecutive victories via armbar already this year.
Edson Barboza vs Jalin Turner
Veterans Edson Barboza and Jalin Turner kick off the run of four lightweight matchups in six fights on Saturday’s prelims.
Set to turn 40 in January, Barboza returned to the 155-pound weight class earlier this year, landing on the wrong side of the cards in a bout against fellow tenured talent Drakkar Klose. Turner was submitted by Ignacio Bahamondes at UFC 313 in March, falling to 1-4 over his last five fights. The result prompted Turner to announce his retirement, but he returns here with a renewed focus as well as the traits, talents, and skills needed to be a threat in the division once again.
Iwo Baraniewski vs Ibo Aslan
It’s a meeting of DWCS alums with concussive power as Iwo Baraniewski makes his promotional debut opposite Ibo Aslan.
The 27-year-old Baraniewski needed just 20 seconds to send Mahamed Aly to the Shadow Realm and claim a contract this fall, running his record to 6-0 with six stoppages in the process. Aslan, who claimed a spot on the UFC roster with a victory on Season 7 of the series, scored victories in his first two trips into the Octagon but has since dropped back-to-back contests.
Mansur Abdul-Malik vs Antonio Trocoli
Mansur Abdul-Malik looks to keep his unbeaten record intact with a home game of sorts, while Antonio Trocoli hopes his third UFC appearance yields his first UFC victory.
Abdul-Malik, who trains at Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, has gone 2-0-1 through his first three UFC starts and stands as one of the most intriguing young talents in the 185-pound weight class. Trocoli made his short-notice promotional debut in June 2024, losing to Shara Magomedov before being submitted less than five months later by Tresean Gore.
Muhammad Naimov vs Mairon Santos
Featherweights open the show at T-Mobile Arena this weekend as Muhammad Naimov and Mairon Santos each look to round out 2025 with a third consecutive victory.
Naimov has gone 5-1 in the UFC thus far to advance to 13-3 overall, rebounding from his submission loss to Felipe Lima last year with decision wins over Kaan Ofli and Bogdan Grad in his first two appearances this year. After winning the featherweight competition on Season 32 of The Ultimate Fighter by stopping Ofli in the second round, Santos scored a debated split decision win over Francis Marshall at UFC 313 before following it up with a unanimous decision victory over Sodiq Yusuff in May.
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