Cory Sandhagen feels well prepared to face Merab Dvalishvili and his wrestling at UFC 320.
Sandhagen is set to take on Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title in an intriguing fight. Dvalishvili is a massive betting favorite, in large part due to his wrestling. Yet, Sandhagen is confident in his takedown defense after fighting Umar Nurmagomedov.
Sandhagen stuffed 8 of Nurmagomedov’s 13 takedown attempts when they fought, and the challenger believes Nurmagomedov is a better wrestler than Dvalishvili.
“I feel like Umar is equally, if not better than Merab at offensively wrestling,” Sandhagen said at UFC 320 media day. “So I get to go into this fight like not having any questions about whether I stack up in the wrestling. Umar was definitely one of the better wrestlers that I was ever going to face, and it was kind of at the time when the Dagestanis were really scary guys, that narrative, and it f*cked with me. Now I get to go into this one with some actual evidence that I can wrestle with the best of them. So go out and do your thing.”
It’s a bold comment from Cory Sandhagen calling Umar Nurmagomedov a better offensive wrestler than Merab Dvalishvili. If that is true, Sandhagen feels like he will be able to stuff Dvalishvili’s takedown attempts and keep it standing to get the win.
Cory Sandhagen expects to finish Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 320
With Sandhagen expecting to stuff Dvalishvili’s takedown, he believes he will pull off the upset to become the new champ.
“I want to bring awe to the fans when they watch,” Sandhagen said on UFC 320 Countdown. “I can knock Merab out, I can submit Merab. I’m not going to get tired in five rounds, and my wrestling is 1000 times better than these other guys he’s fought. Right now, I feel unbeatable. At UFC 320, I win this fight.
“In this camp, particularly, I’ve really dedicated myself to learning all of the aspects deeply. Not just being a striker with fancy jiu-jitsu, but actually getting super good with wrestling,” Sandhagen added. “I can step into the cage with absolutely anyone, and I have all of the tools to beat anyone in the entire world.”
Sandhagen is coming off a stoppage win over Deiveson Figueiredo last time out.
