Are you keen on watching the rematch between Sean O’Malley and Merab Dvalishvili? If you are, then bantamweight contender Cory Sandhagen has some bad news for you. ‘The Sandman’ thinks the fight won’t happen, and even if it does, the outcome won’t change from the first fight at UFC 306, where ‘Suga’ was beaten by ‘The Machine’ from pillar to post. Sandhagen, who’s ranked #4 in the division has a fight coming up against Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Fight Night 256. If he wins that fight, he expects to be in the title conversation.
Furthermore, everyone ranked above Cory Sandhagen (Umar Nurmagomedov, Petr Yan, and O’Malley) has fought the champion, so the Colorado native thinks that his fighting for the title or the #1-ranked contender makes sense if he beats Figueiredo on May 3rd. Not just that. ‘The Sandman’ would rather ‘Suga’ fight him than Merab Dvalishvili.
Speaking to Luke Thomas, the Colorado native spilled the beans on an inside scoop, saying, “I think that O’Malley and Merab I don’t know if that fight is happening or not, that’s kind of the word on the street, as I’m sure you’ve heard too. So, I mean the winner of that one, every—all the other guys have beat Merab, the entire world wants to watch me and O’Malley fight badly so I think that I have a really good argument if I go out and show out well against Figueiredo.”
MMA: Riyadh Season Noche UFC 306 – OMalley vs Dvalishvili Sep 14, 2024 Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Sean OMalley of the United States red gloves fights Merab Dvalishvili of Georgia blue gloves during Riyadh Season Noche UFC 306 at The Sphere. Las Vegas The Sphere Nevada USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xStephenxR.xSylvaniex 20240915_jpm_cs1_M19570
So technically, Cory Sandhagen’s path is clear to fighting ‘Suga’ if the former champ does not have a rematch against Dvalishvili. In fact, ‘The Sandman’ was against this rematch for a long time and said so on his Instagram post as well. “Let’s be real, O’Malley has no business fighting Merab for an immediate rematch,” Sandhagen said on Instagram. “He got beat up in the first fight. He’s going to get beaten up in the second fight. No one wants to see that fight. I’m not booked yet. I want to fight. I am so damn bored.”
Can you see the pattern here? No? Well, the thing is, maybe Sandhagen is vehemently vouching for the rematch to be canceled so that he can get a fight against the title holder or O’Malley. Sandhagen continued, “Just UFC, make the fight that fans want to see, which is me and O’Malley. Make it happen soon. I’m so f*cking bored.” ‘Suga’ is currently detoxing and healing from hip surgery, but said that he might return later in 2025. But Sandhagen is already preparing for the future and said that he cracked the code as to why O’Malley lost, and he even has tricks to defeat Dvalishvili.
Cory Sandhagen revealed his master plan to defeat Dvalishvili
‘The Machine’ seems unstoppable at the moment, but Cory Sandhagen has a strategy that could effectively Merab Dvalishvili‘s relentless onslaught. For 11 fights, combatants have tried their best to exhaust and get the better of Dvalishvili. So what is the secret to shutting down ‘The Machine’ according to ‘The Sandman’?
Sandhagen sees the flaw that everyone, including ‘The Eagle,’ overlooked while training Umar Nurmagomedov for Dvalishvili. Sandhagen laid out the simple solution to Luke Thomas, saying, “The more that you move your feet, the more tired you’re gonna get, especially if that movement is backward. You have to stand your ground against Merab.”
Sandhagen further said, “Don’t run from him, and hit him when he comes in. Make your movement a lot smaller because it is all that footwork that tires people out.” So, in simple words, just keep pushing forward. Don’t give in to the Georgians’ relentless pressure. Limit your movement, stand your ground, and counter when Dvalishvili moves in. It’s important to control the pace against an elite wrestler, and Cory Sandhagen learned his lesson the hard way after losing to Umar in his previous fight.
In O’Malley’s case, according to Sandhagen, he tried to use long and rangy movements to find that kill shot. On this ‘The Sandman’ said, “I think that’s one of O’Malley’s weaknesses, to me that’s he’s constantly looking for a KO shot, but that’s kind of tough to do if you’re tired, and getting wrestled is very tiring. And so he was standing his ground much better, but he wasn’t throwing much, because he was getting taken down when that would happen.”
What do you think of Cory Sandhagen’s strategy of beating Merab Dvalishvili? Do you think it’s a viable strategy against ‘The Machine’? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post Sean O’Malley vs Merab Dvalishvili 2 Up in the Air as Cory Sandhagen Reveals Inside Rumors of Fading Rematch appeared first on EssentiallySports.