“It Will Be a Short Night” – Cory Sandhagen Says Knocking Out Merab Dvalishvili Will Be No Problem
Cory Sandhagen is brimming with confidence ahead of his title tilt with Merab Dvalishvili.
After years of fighting his way up the bantamweight division, ‘Sandman’ will finally have his shot at undisputed gold when he challenges Dvalishvili for the 135-pound crown in the UFC 320 co-main event on Saturday night.
Sandhagen goes into the bout as a winner in three of his last four, including a second-round TKO over flyweight titleholder Deiveson Figueiredo. That victory earned Sandhagen his long-awaited opportunity, and he’s confident that he can deliver a similar result against Dvalishvili in Las Vegas.
“I’m more dangerous than ever right now,” Sandhagen said ahead of fight night. “So I could definitely see me finishing Merab. He’s a tough fighter, so that’s not going to be easy. When he backs up, he backs up a lot, so it’s hard to really connect with someone when they’re backing up. It’s a lot easier when you get to meet them head-on. But yeah, we’ll see. I’m really dangerous right now. And Merab has shown that he can get caught, so if he messes up, it will be a short night.”
More than 50% of Sandhagen’s wins inside the Octagon have come via KO, though you’d have to go all the way back to 2021 to find a finish that didn’t come via a doctor’s stoppage or injury.
Meanwhile, Dvalishvili is coming off an absolutely dominant performance against Sean O’Malley, submitting ‘Sugar’ in the third round of their bantamweight championship rematch at UFC 316. The win extended Dvalishvili’s unbeaten streak to 13.
