Merab Dvalishvili's shot at UFC history among top storylines to watch at UFC 323 in Las Vegas

The final UFC pay-per-view card of 2025 takes place on Saturday as a pair of title bouts atop the marquee put the focus on the smaller weight classes at UFC 323 inside T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. 

In the headliner, Merab Dvalishvili looks to make the fourth defense this calendar year of his bantamweight title when he welcomes former champion Petr Yan in a rematch. A flyweight title bout will serve as the co-main event as Alexandre Pantoja makes his fifth title defense against rising prospect Joshua Van. 

As we draw closer to this weekend's action, let's take a closer look at the biggest storylines surrounding the event. 

1. Merab Dvalishvili looks to cap off an absolutely historic 2025

Considering he lost both of his first UFC fights upon his debut in 2017, few could've predicted that eight years later, the native of Georgia would be closing in on G.O.A.T. talk among bantamweights. Dvalishvili will look to become the first UFC champion to make four title defenses in a single calendar year when he faces Yan in a rematch of their 2023 non-title bout (won via decision by Dvalishvili). A victory would not only cement the case for "The Machine" as MMA fighter of the year in 2025, it would move him into a second-place tie with Kamaru Usman for the most consecutive wins in UFC history at 15. Dvalishvili, who turns 35 in January, already owns one of the most incredible resumes of any UFC fighter all-time thanks to wins over John Dodson, Marlon Moraes, Jose Aldo, Yan, Henry Cejudo, Sean O'Malley (twice), Umar Nurmagomedov and Corey Sandhagen. He's also somehow getting better with age as his striking has evolved immensely to pair with his inhumane cardio and spam wrestling attack.

2. Petr Yan wasn't the only one injured during first Dvalishivili fight

At 32, and four years removed from losing his bantamweight title to Aljamain Sterling via disqualification, it wouldn't be wrong to suggest that Dvalishvili will be facing a rejuvenated Yan in their second meeting on Saturday. Yan is riding a three-fight win streak following a trio of decisions over Song Yadong, former flyweight king Deiveson Figueiredo and Marcus McGhee. The win streak also erased the memory of the three-fight losing skid that preceded it, which included split-decision losses to Sterling (in their rematch) and O'Malley. But Yan's claim that he was operating at just 50% of his capabilities in his 2023 loss to Dvalishvili due to a broken right hand wasn't news that was well received by John Wood, the champion's coach. Wood recently countered that Dvalishvili also fought with a broken hand in the Yan bout (and was barely able to fit the swollen hand into his glove) but chose not to reveal that publicly. In fact, much of Dvalishvili's title run has seen him plow through pre-existing injuries without much consequence, including a broken toe against O'Malley at UFC 316 and the combination of a back injury and a staph infection against Nurmagomedov at UFC 311. 

3. Is it too much, too soon for Joshua Van entering title shot? 

It was just 15 months ago that Van, the flyweight wunderkind who is the first UFC fighter to be born in Myanmar, was looking to shake off his first UFC defeat following a third-round knockout against Charles Johnson. Five wins later, Van finds himself fighting for the 125-pound title against the pound-for-pound stalwart Pantoja. The big turn for Van came in June when, after stopping Bruno Silva, "The Fearless" took a fight just three months later against the No. 1-ranked Brandon Royval and outlasted the former title challenger in a fight-of-the-year contender. Van, who turned 24 in October, wasn't even born yet when 9/11 happened in 2001. He also didn't make his pro MMA debut until after the COVID-19 pandemic came to an end. But Van is on the fast track toward potentially becoming one of the youngest champions in UFC history. The real question comes down to not just the experience gap between him and Pantoja, but the physical grind that it took to get here. Van, who made his UFC debut two years ago, already has nine walks to the Octagon, including four in 2025, and enters his sixth fight since September 2024. Even with the big win over Royval on short notice, Van likely doesn't get this opportunity so soon had Pantoja not effectively cleaned out the decision. Now, it's up to him to prove that he's truly ready.

4. Payton Talbott enters possible star turn against Henry Cejudo

Van isn't the only super prospect on the verge of breaking through with a career-defining win at UFC 323. The 27-year-old Talbott, who faces former two-division champion and friend Cejudo, has an opportunity at labeling himself as a breakout star to watch as UFC transitions from the ESPN era to the start of its seven-year deal with Paramount/CBS in 2026. The 10-1 Talbott suffered his first career defeat in January when he was upset by red-hot veteran Raoni Barcelos. But not only was Talbott enduring a debilitating battle with vertigo throughout that training camp, the Las Vegas native bounced back strong just five months later when he outpointed a streaking Felipe Lima. Talbott enters the biggest fight of his career as a betting favorite against Cejudo in what is expected to be a retirement bout for the 2008 Olympic gold medalist whether he wins or loses. But the true intrigue here surrounds that of Talbott, which is why UFC went to the creative lengths it did to match this fight. 

5. Don't count out Maycee Barber just yet

Despite riding a six-fight win streak, the 27-year-old Barber has largely been out of sight and out of mind over the past 21 months after a series of illnesses and troubling medical diagnoses kept the 125-pound contender out of action (after forcing her to withdraw from key fights against Rose Namajunas and Erin Blanchfield). Barber, who was once on a fast track of her own to try and break Jon Jones' record as the youngest champion at 23, can pick up where she left off on Saturday in a matchup of top 10-ranked women's flyweights when she faces Karine Silva. Barber remains an intriguing title contender given her aggression and marketability. And a win over Silva could launch her, provided she stays healthy, into a huge 2026.