Merab Dvalishvili's coach on Cory Sandhagen
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Umar Nurmagomedov has the skill set to succeed where Suga Sean failed against Merab Dvalishvili, according to his highly respected coach.
UFC 316 delivered on its promise, especially in the highly anticipated rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O'Malley. With relentless pace and smart positioning, Merab secured a third-round guillotine choke submission to retain his title.
Cory Sandhagen acknowledges that there's only one way he can dethrone UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili.
The one defeat on that run came against recent title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov and he’s since bounced back from that setback by stopping flyweight legend Deiveson Figueiredo in May.
Sean O'Malley may have made a crucial error that lead to his submission loss to Merab Dvalishvili in their UFC 316 rematch.
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At the time, Aljamain Sterling ruled over the division and was set to fight a returning Henry Cejud o. Instead of asking for a title shot in his post-fight interview, Sandhagen called for Dvalishvili, who was fresh off his ninth-straight win over former champion Petr Yan.
Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) vacated his UFC featherweight title for a move up to lightweight to challenge Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) but won't get his desired fight after Makhachev relinquished his belt to go to welterweight.
About a month after facing Cory Sandhagen at UFC Des Moines, Deiveson Figueiredo learned that he fought that night with a fractured jaw.