Devon Larratt beating Vitaly Laletin on the right arm gave everyone the wrong temptation. The lazy take is obvious. Devon beat Vitaly, so Devon deserves Levan and maybe even has the better shot.

It proved Devon can survive a style that should make him miserable. Vitaly brings the long hand, the low hand toproll threat, the giant lever, and enough side pressure to make a normal outside puller look like he forgot his elbow. Devon still found room to work.

Vitaly Was A Real Problem

Vitaly was dangerous early, which is exactly how that match had to feel. He has the kind of length that makes the setup look unfair before anything moves. When his fingers sit over the top and his arm stretches the lane, every puller suddenly looks shorter.

Devon had to live in places that look terrible on camera. Open arm. Bent wrist risk. Long seconds where the pin pad feels too close. That is where he does some of his rudest work.

The win did not make Vitaly vanish from the Levan debate. It did make Devon’s current right hand feel harder to dismiss. That distinction is important.

The third Levan attempt still has a different physics problem waiting inside it. Levan has more hand than Vitaly, more total containment, and a finishing press that makes a half-stop feel temporary.

The Right Hand Changed The Story

Devon on the right carries a different mood. The left-arm loss to Vitaly gave people a clean excuse to age him out of the picture. Then the right arm arrived and Devon did the most Devon thing possible. He let the match look ugly, made the other man spend, then found his way through the mess.

That is his gift. A lot of athletes need the first lane to work. Devon seems happy to use the first lane as a receipt. He learns what the hand gives, what the wrist allows, where the opponent hates waiting.

The strap became his office. Once the match lived there, Devon could turn Vitaly’s length into a longer argument. Pronation, back pressure, and those little pauses under load made the round feel less like a hit contest and more like a tax audit.

Proof Has Limits

The Vitaly win proves Devon belongs in the number two conversation. It proves the 2026 version of his right hand can answer a brutal long-lever puller. It proves his king’s move and open-arm defense still force elite opponents to solve him in layers.

But it does not prove he beats Levan. Good grief.

What it gives us is better. It gives the next Devon-Levan argument some adult texture. Devon has a result. Vitaly has a stylistic case. Levan has the belt and the habit of making these debates look silly once the strap tightens.