Former foes Merab Dvalishvili and Petr Yan might end up facing each other in the UFC again, but first they’ll meet as coaches as part of a Russian reality TV series similar to The Ultimate Fighter.
Both fighters confirmed the pairing on social media as they join Hype Reality for the new season after UFC veterans Khamzat Chimaev and Arman Tsarukyan coached the previous installment.
Of course, Dvailishvili has plenty of experience working opposite Yan after they met in a five-round battle back in 2024 that cemented the Georgian fighter as one of the top contenders in the bantamweight division. Dvalishvili scored 11 takedowns during the 25-minute affair but he actually went for a total of 49 takedowns as he kept constant pressure on Yan, who just couldn’t really mount any offense during the fight.
Dvalishvili earned the unanimous decision victory and he went onto become UFC champion two fights later after he defeated Sean O’Malley at UFC 306 this past September. Most recently, Dvalishvili beat Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 for his first title defense while handing the 29-year-old bantamweight the first loss of his career.
Meanwhile, Yan bounced back from a trio of losses to Dvalisvhili, O’Malley and Aljamain Sterling with wins in his past two appearances in the UFC.
He scored decision victories over both Deiveson Figueiredo and Song Yadong to put himself back in title contention with Dvalishvili previously recognizing him as a potential opponent after he got through Nurmagomedov at UFC 311.
Now before any possible rematch comes together, Dvalishvili and Yan face off as coaches on the Russian reality fight series. There’s no date when the series will air but filming is expected to begin soon.
