Can Cory Put Sand Into 'The Machine'?
Yesterday at 06:00 PM
"Sandman" thinks he can beat "The Machine."
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili scored his first title defense at UFC 311 last weekend (Sat., Jan. 18, 2025) when he defeated Umar Nurmagomedovvia unanimous decision and now the search for his next opponent is underway.
No. 4 ranked Bantamweight Cory Sandhagen believes he should be next but won't push it because he's coming off a loss.
"Merab has fought [Sean] O'Malley - beat him pretty decisively, [Petr] Yan - beat him pretty decisively, Umar - beat him pretty decisively," Sandhagen said on his YouTube channel. "Those are the three guys ahead of me. I should be next in line. I know that's kind of a tough sell, so I'm not going to try and sell you guys on that shit because I don't like doing that. I prefer to keep things real. I don't think I should get a title shot after an immediate loss."
Even though he won't push himself into an undeserved title shot, Sandhagen does believe he has the style to defeat the current champion.
"Styles make fights, right? I think that if you're going to be a guy that fights against Merab, you have to have really, really good footwork and be able to defend takedowns in an energy-efficient way," Sandhagen said. "I do think if there is a style that beats Merab, it's one that controls the space the best. Say whatever you want about my style; what you have to say about it is I probably have the best footwork in the division and, if not the best, way, way up there. I hold space, keep space, close it, open it - better than anyone in the division."
Sandhagen has been out of action since his unanimous decision loss to Nurmagomedov at UFC Abu Dhabi, and he is correct that styles make fights, but if Nurmagomev was able to take him down at will - what would Dvalishvili do?
