Dvalishvili-Yan, Pantoja-Van Title Fights Will Headline UFC 323 Card

The headliners for UFC 323 are set.

UFC president Dana White announced Monday that a pair of title fights will be the premier bouts of the event on December 6. Merab Dvalishvili will face Petr Yan, while Alexandre Pantoja will take on Joshua Van. Additionally, White announced a fight between Henry Cejudo and Payton Talbott.

Dvalishvili found out that his fight will be the main event live on the Ariel Helwani Show.

Dvalishvili won the UFC Bantamweight Championship last September and has successfully defended it four times already this year. He most recently defended the title in October when he beat Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320, meaning he'll have a swift turnaround for the fight in December.

If he defends his title at UFC 323, it will give him the record for the most title defenses in a year, a record White said was extremely significant to him.

"On the Monday after Merab's title defense at 320, he came into the offices here and told us how important it was for him to break the record for the most title defenses in a year," White said. "Merab's on a 14-fight win streak and is looking to make an unprecedented fourth title defense in under a year. And you gotta respect the hell out of Merab for wanting to break this title (record). I love this s--t. I love stuff like this."

Dvalishvili has all the momentum after four consecutive title defenses, but Yan, who is riding three straight wins, is hoping to win his first bantamweight title since 2021.

Much like Dvalishvili, Pantoja goes into his fight against Van riding a streak of title defenses. Pantoja won the UFC Flyweight Championship in 2023 when he beat Brandon Moreno at UFC 290, and he has since defended it four times, most recently when he defeated Kai Kara-France at UFC 317 in June.

He will have his work cut out for him against Van, who is just 24 and one of the fastest emerging stars in UFC.

Cejudo retired in 2020 after defending his bantamweight title but returned to fighting in 2023. Since returning from retirement, he's lost three consecutive fights, but has the chance to get back in the win column against Talbott.