Yan has promised to break Dvalishvili's nose again, saying "this machine is going to be taken apart."

The first fight between these two happened back in 2023, and by MMA Fighting's account Dvalishvili dominated Yan over five rounds. Bloody Elbow's staff backs that up, noting Dvalishvili won every round in that opener. Whatever happened in between, the stakes now are simple: the winner answers who actually runs the 135 pound division.

Yan has also made it clear he is not thrilled with how the promotion has been building up Sean O'Malley, according to Cageside Press, and he does not sound especially concerned with whatever gameplan Dvalishvili is bringing into the cage. O'Malley sits at number two in the bantamweight rankings behind Dvalishvili, and he is coming off a June 14 knockout of Aiemann Zahabi, finishing him with punches in the second round at the 4:02 mark.

The numbers on this one are tight. Yan is the betting favorite at minus 142, with Dvalishvili the plus 137 underdog, and our own model leans only slightly toward Yan at 55 percent to Dvalishvili's 44. That is despite Dvalishvili actually carrying the higher Elo rating of the two at 1611 across seven fights, compared to Yan's 1552 over six.

Whichever way it goes, this is the fight that determines the real top of the division right now, with O'Malley waiting just behind both men for whatever comes next.