In the co-main event of UFC 320 tomorrow night, the bantamweight title is on the line. One of the best P4P fighters in the world and current bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili (20-4) will look to defend his title against “The Sandman” Cory Sandhagen (18-5).
After years of knocking on the door, Cory Sandhagen is finally getting a shot at undisputed gold. He got one interim title shot against Petr Yan that he fell short in, but now he gets his shot at the top spot. Sandhagen is 4-1 in his last five win his latest win coming against Deiveson Figueiredo back in May. The lone loss was to Umar Nurmagomedov.
Speaking of Nurmagomedov, after that win against Sandhagen, he fought Merab Dvalishvili for the title. Dvalishvili was the betting underdog but lived up to his nickname of “The Machine” as he wore down Nurmagomedov and won a unanimous decision.
That was his first title defense after taking the belt from Sean O’Malley at last year’s Noche UFC event at The Sphere. In his latest title defense, Dvalishvili finished O’Malley in their rematch back in June. Now, he’ll look for his third successful title defense against Sandhagen.
UFC 320 Prediction
Outside of Umar Nurmagomedov, Cory Sandhagen is probably the toughest fight for Dvalishvili in the bantamweight division. Sandhagen is very long and has a very diverse striking attack that can give Dvalishvili pause. Sandhagen is also very good on the ground and he’s very good at forcing scrambles.
I don’t think this fight is a sure thing like the odds would suggest. That said, I think Dvalishvili is going to retain his title at UFC 320. While Sandhagen is a difficult puzzle to solve, I don’t think he’ll have an answer for the pressure and pace of Dvalishvili.
Dvalishvili truly weaponizes his cardio and I think you’ll see him break Sandhagen as the fight goes along. By late in the second round, I think you’ll see Dvalishvili start to pull ahead and he’ll runaway with the championship rounds. I think we see a decision, but Dvalishvili will win four rounds and retain his UFC bantamweight title.
Prediction: Merab Dvalishvili by Decision
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