Merab Dvalishvili’s body-first reset targets the right problem against Petr Yan

Merab Dvalishvili has identified a tactical correction for his third fight with Petr Yan: stop hunting the head so predictably, attack the body and reconnect those strikes to the pressure game that carried him through their first meeting. LowKick MMA reported that Dvalishvili intends to make those changes when the bantamweights meet Oct. 24 at UFC 333 in Abu Dhabi.

The adjustment has a statistical basis. Across 60 tracked rounds, Dvalishvili has landed 880 significant strikes to the head, compared with 229 to the body and 213 to the legs. His attack has been head-heavy even though his best work historically comes from forcing opponents to process several threats at once: strikes, level changes, takedown attempts and prolonged pressure.

Changing the target could make those layers harder for Yan to read. It does not, by itself, erase the reason Yan won their December rematch.

The body attack is a setup, not the whole solution

Dvalishvili’s stated change matters most if body strikes help rebuild his wrestling entries. A committed punch downstairs can resemble the beginning of a level change, while actual takedown attempts can create openings for strikes when Yan prepares to defend. That is the mechanical case for taking the camp comments seriously: target variety can reconnect phases of Dvalishvili’s game that became easier to separate in the second fight.

His career profile still depends heavily on that connection. Dvalishvili averages 5.97 takedowns per 15 minutes and has completed 119 across 17 bouts with round-level data. He has also accumulated 107 minutes of control. His striking volume is meaningful at 4.42 significant strikes landed per minute, but his 41 percent career accuracy trails Yan’s 54 percent. A prolonged, clean kickboxing match naturally gives Yan more opportunities to exploit that efficiency gap.

Body work could also raise Dvalishvili’s effective output without requiring him to land the perfect head shot. He has recorded only one knockdown in 60 tracked rounds, so the value of changing targets is less about creating a sudden knockout threat than sustaining pressure and opening subsequent attacks.