Why Merab Dvalishvilis Wrestling Struggled Against Petr Yan: Insights from Coach Kairat Nurmagambetov

Kairat Nurmagambetov, the coach of UFC bantamweight champion Petr Yan, commented on the successful defense against takedowns by the Russian fighter in his rematch with Georgian Merab Dvalishvili.

“He was advised by his corner to change his approach: ‘Merab, the single-leg takedown isn’t working. You need to go for double legs and focus on getting behind him.’ In our training camp, we analyzed the situation and understood that if a wrestler’s single-leg takedown fails, they typically switch to a double-leg.

Merab isn’t a guy from Dagestan. We have a fighter named Sharabutdin Magomedov… We refer to his technique as the ‘shaitan pass.’ He executes it with such speed and timing that you don’t even realize how he has taken you down from behind. It’s incredible… Kurban Gadzhiev also charges in for the legs with remarkable speed; I’ve never seen anything like that during training,” Nurmagambetov shared in an interview with the YouTube channel «Ushatayka.»