Russian withstood early pressure before superior striking saw him take a unanimous decision in Abu Dhabi

Show caption: Petr Yan has his hand raised in victory after taking a unani…

Petr Yan settled his trilogy bout with Merab Dvalishvili with a unanimous victory at UFC 333 to retain the bantamweight title as Abu Dhabi witnesses a fight-of-the-year contender.

The champion took his time to get going, constantly defending the relentless Georgian's takedown attempts through the first two rounds.

A kick to the liver in Round 3 changed the momentum of the contest in the champion's favour. From there on, Yan picked off Dvalishvili at will, patted off ineffective takedowns and connected with combinations that had the challenger wincing.

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Dvalishvili simply had no answer to Yan's superior striking, and Yan settled their trilogy with his second win over the Georgian after dethroning him for the title back in December.

Lone’er Kavanagh gave Ramazan Temirov a taste of his own medicine with a sensational first-round finish.

The English flyweight caught the Uzbek with a beautiful left uppercut that sent Termirov reeling. Kavanagh waited for his opponent to get back to his feet before wading in with several crunching blows before the referee stepped in.

Alexander Volkov picked up the 41^st win of his pro MMA career with a unanimous decision over Rizvan Kuniev.

The giant Russian heavyweight, celebrating his 38^th birthday, controlled the distance and landed some punishing kicks throughout the three-round contest.

Volkov, 38, repeated his request to Dana White for a title shot. It remains to be seen whether the UFC president grants his request after next month’s title fight between champion Ciryl Gane and Josh Hokit.

Aaron Pico kicked off the main card with a first-round stoppage over Losene Keita.

The American featherweight had the Belgian in trouble with an early takedown before rocking him with a right hand that sent Keita to the canvas.

Pico pounced, peppering his opponent with pot shots, before the referee waved off the fight.