Merab Dvalishvili will look to defend his bantamweight title against Cory Sandhagen in the co-main event at Noche UFC on Oct. 4 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Dvalishvili recently issued a warning to Sandhagen, promising to knock out the elite striker. “The Machine,” primarily known for his wrestling, also showed off some impressive pad work in a video on Instagram. Known for his excellent range control, Sandhagen has eight KO/TKO wins in his record. “The Sandman” is 4-1 in his last five, only losing against Umar Nurmagomedov, who then lost to Dvalishvili. Meanwhile, Dvalishvili has three KO/TKO wins, only one of them in the UFC. While the Georgian champ is riding the longest winning streak in UFC bantamweight history, he has often been criticized for a lack of finishes.
Based on the odds, your top UFC 320 pick should be Merab Dvalishvili. He’s priced at -350, suggesting that bookmakers think he’s going to steamroll his opponent. This is no surprise, given that the Georgian fighter has been really impressive over the past seven years – that’s how long it’s been since he lost the last time. Merab is 20-4 overall with his most recent defeat happening back in the spring of 2018 when he lost to Ricky Simon by submission. It was a technical submission as the fight was stopped by the referee. If it were Merab’s decision, he would have kept on going as a machine. Actually, his nickname, The Machine, tells a lot about his fighting style. He’s a relentless warrior who keeps fighting no matter what his opponents throw at him. Merab’s specialty is wrestling, but the fact is that he can box as well.
The Sandman is a hell of a striker, who lands 5.06 significant strikes a minute. In comparison, Merab’s average is 4.31. The problem, however, is that his wrestling skills are nowhere near as good as those of Merab. He doesn’t shoot for takedowns very often: 1.28 per 15 minutes, which is nothing compared to Merab’s 5.84. Furthermore, his TD defense is 63%. That might not sound bad, but we saw him struggle a lot against prolific wrestlers such as Umar Nurmagomedov, who landed five TDs when they fought.
Sandhagen is a fantastic striker, but he doesn’t have the skills (or the power) to become the first man to knock Merab out. He will try to land as many strikes as possible, but the defending champ will put an end to it by landing a takedown and keeping him pinned to the ground. Dvalishvili might not finish him, but we think he’s going to get a win. He’ll probably grind out another unanimous decision victory.
Cory Sandhagen isn’t paying any attention to the narrative that he’s a heavy underdog with little chance to pull off the upset to beat incumbent bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili when they clash at UFC 320 in October. Now Dvalishvili has earned a reputation as one of the toughest matchups on the entire UFC roster for several reasons, not the least of which is his seemingly endless conditioning where he can mash down on the gas pedal for 25 consecutive minutes without ever slowing down. Combine that with his wrestling, and an ever-improving ground game, and Dvalishvili is a puzzle no one has been able to solve for the past seven-plus years. While Sandhagen certainly won’t underestimate Dvalishvili going into the fight, he also knows he can’t pay too much attention to all the noise if he plans on winning and becoming champion.
Now make no mistake, Sandhagen doesn’t expect to just walk into the octagon and dispatch Dvalishvili in easy fashion to win the UFC bantamweight title. In fact, he’s preparing for the absolute worst-case scenario because that’s where it seems many of Dvalishvili’s past opponents have come up short. Sandhagen says Dvalishvili’s ability to push the pace might be one of his best-known weapons, but it’s far from his only way to win a fight.
Merab Dvalishvili is a Georgian and American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), where he is the current UFC Bantamweight Champion. Dvalishvili is considered as one of the greatest Bantamweights of all time. He is also the first Georgian-born champion in UFC history. As of July 1, 2025, he is #3 in the UFC men's pound-for-pound rankings.
Cory James Sandhagen is an American professional mixed martial artist. He currently competes in the Bantamweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). A professional since 2015, Sandhagen also competed for Legacy Fighting Alliance. As of August 6, 2024, he is #4 in the UFC bantamweight rankings.
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