John Wood is confident that UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili will have no issues against Cory Sandhagen.
Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defeated Sean O’Malley (18-3 MMA, 10-3 UFC) again, this time by submission in Saturday’s UFC 316 main event at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J.
Expected to be next in line for Dvalishvili is Sandhagen (18-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC), who was in attendance for the fight. Wood knows that Sandhagen is a crafty striker, but says it’s a style Dvalishvili is accustomed to.
“Cory is a great fighter, and I enjoy watching him,” Wood told Submission Radio. “I think he’s a very entertaining fighter, and I think he’s got a lot of tools, and a lot of things that are going to be tough to deal with. But I do not believe it’s going to be anything different than Merab has seen before. I think it’s stuff we are going to have just a fine time with, and it’ll be a fun fight. But I can tell you this: Merab’s going to come out ahead on that one.
“I feel like we’ve kind of fought that style before. He is a tough guy. He’s tricky. But like I said, I know Merab, and I know what he can do, and I know what we’re going to do. It’s always fun as a coach to game plan against a guy like that. He’s got a great team, great coaches, all that stuff, and it’s interesting. I think stylistically, it works out great for us.”
Dvalishvili is hoping for two more title defenses before the end of the year. His head coach shared his ideal timeline for “The Machine’s” next fight.
“I wouldn’t mind getting a Vegas card, maybe October,” Wood said. “September might be pushing it. Late October would be real good, just to give Merab a chance if he really does want to sneak in two more, the earlier the better. But I’d like to have a card in Vegas where he can stay home and not have to travel.”
