Merab dvalishvili notched another bantamweight title defense at UFC 320, conveniently defeating Cory Sandhagen through a unanimous decision.
Sandhagen came out and landed some solid strikes early. That led Dvalishvili to go to his grappling midway through the beginning, but Sandhagen did an amazing job of dodging Takedown’s attempts. Sandhagen appears to have landed the first more important shot, potentially scoring 10-9 on the scorecard.
Two minutes later, Dvalishvili dabbled in and connected with the combination that Sandhagen got caught up in. With the wobbling legs “sandman”, the champions were raising the heat, landing on their will, desperately searching for an early knockout.
For some reason, Sandhagen weathered the storm, but Dvalishvili’s relentless grappling prevented him from quitting his attack during the round.
Dvalishvili delivered another dominant round in the third, but Sandhagen began to find his range in the fourth, beginning to connect with the booming right hand. Still, “The Machine” could have almost finished the round in the final minute with D’Arce Choke.
Sandhagen, who is likely to need a finish, began swinging fifth, but a non-stop grappling from Dvalishvili made it difficult for the challenger to convenes an attack. In the end, Davalishvili landed an incredible 20 takedowns, securing his third successful Bantamweight Title Defense.
Official Results:Merab dvalishvili def. Cory Sandhagen via unanimous decision (49-45, 49-45, 49-46) to maintain the UFC Bantamweight Championship.