UFC Las Vegas: Merab Dvalishvili breaks huge record with dominant win over Petr Yan

Merab Dvalishvili once again proved why he's a force to be reckoned with in the UFC bantamweight division. The Georgian scored the most impressive victory of his professional MMA career with a unanimous decision victory over former 135-pound champion Petr Yan at UFC Fight Night 221.

As one might have expected, Merab Dvalishvili began the fight by attempting to score an early takedown. Wise to the threat his opponent poses on the ground, Yan stuffed Dvalishvilli's takedown attempts successfully. In striking exchanges, Petr Yan had the upper hand, landing solid leg kicks to Dvalishvili's lead leg and breadbasket.

However, in the final minute of the round, Dvalishvili reversed Yan's takedown attempt and landed on top. He finished the round strong with a standing guillotine attempt that did not necessarily threaten the Russian.

Dvalishvili appeared to be the fresher fighter in the second round. He was able to close the distance with the looming takedown threat that Yan had to be wary of. With that, he was able to land solid shots, and Yan was caught backpedaling on several occasions.

The fight progressed similarly in the third round, with Dvalishvili imposing his fighting style on Yan. Midway into the third round, 'The Machine' had already attempted 22 takedowns. Fighting off all those takedown attempts had taken a toll on Yan, and he looked frustrated and fatigued. Dvalishivli's wrestling prowess proved to be the differentiator in the fight.

Before the fight even reached the fifth round, Merab Dvalishvili had already established a new UFC record for most takedown attempts.

In the end, all three judges scored the fight 50-45 unanimously in favor of Merab Dvalishvili. According to ESPN MMA, 'The Machine' attempted 49 takedowns, breaking the UFC record for most takedowns attempted in a fight. Former UFC heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez previously held the record with 33 takedown attempts in his second fight against Junior dos Santos at UFC 155.

Dvalishvili is on the cusp of a title shot after racking up nine consecutive victories in one of the most talent-stacked divisions in the UFC. However, his longtime friend and training partner, Aljamain Sterling, reigns over the 135-pound division. Dvalishvili has no plans to face his friend and stated in the post-fight interview that he will wait until Sterling moves up to 145-pounds before challenging for the bantamweight championship.

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MMA fans react to Merab Dvalishvili's career-defining performance against Petr Yan at UFC Las Vegas

Merab Dvalishvili extended his undefeated run to 9-0 with a dominant unanimous decision victory over Petr Yan at UFC Fight Night 221.

From the outset, 'The Machine' pushed the pace and exhausted his opponent with relentless pressure. Yan was unable to keep up with Dvalishvili's pressure and faded radically in the championship rounds.

The Georgian now ties Demetrious Johnson in second place for the most successful takedowns landed in UFC history (74).

Fight fans were thoroughly impressed by Dvalishvili's performance and took to Twitter to react to his victory. One fan wrote:

"Most fitting nickname?? [The Machine] Guy might actually be a robot."

Another fan wrote:

"He’s the best bantamweight in the world. Hope [Henry] Cejudo wins [against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 288] so Merab can take it from him."

Yet another fan wrote:

"For those that haven’t wrestled or sorted before. This is incredibly insane the pace he put. He definitely has the best gas tank in the UFC."

Check out some of the best reactions below: