Preview: UFC 320 ‘Ankalaev vs. Pereira 2’

UFC Bantamweight Championship

Merab Dvalishvili (20-4, 13-2 UFC) vs. Cory Sandhagen (18-5, 11-4 UFC)

BETTING ODDS: Dvalishvili (-375), Sandhagen (+295)

It’s unclear when Dvalishvili will be unseated as the UFC’s bantamweight champion, but for now, it’s entertaining to watch the Georgian seemingly break the rules of mixed martial arts. Dvalishvili earned his contract with a 15-second knockout of Raufeon Stots—a bit of false advertising in terms of Dvalishvili’s striking but not his aggressive approach—then had an oddly unsuccessful start to his UFC career. Dvalishvili’s focus on wrestling in lieu of striking output cost him a split decision against Frankie Saenz, and an even more controversial loss against Ricky Simon came after he survived a guillotine choke only to be ruled unconscious at the final horn. From there, “The Machine” has kept winning and never looked back, living up to his nickname at every point along the way. Dvalishvili has gotten stung on the feet and stalled out with his wrestling at points during this run, but none of that has mattered. Dvalishvili just keeps surviving and pressing forward, outlasting every single one of his opponents. Dvalishvili’s first UFC main event—a 2023 win over Petr Yan—established his ability to test the limits of the sport to an inhuman degree, attempting 49 takedowns and 401 strikes over the course of five rounds. It remains unclear how an opponent is supposed to keep up with that pace. That’s where Dvalishvili breaks the conventional wisdom of the sport. Theoretically, if an opponent can start stuffing Dvalishvili’s takedowns and neutralizing his wrestling attack, it should make the Georgian some combination of tired or discouraged. However, neither of those happen, as Dvalishvili just continues to press harder, to the point that his opponent always breaks first. After winning the bantamweight title from Sean O’Malley roughly a year ago, Dvalishvili’s January title defense against Umar Nurmagomedov served as his closest fight in a while and the clearest example of what makes him special. Nurmagomedov did everything right, stayed ahead of Dvalishvili early and looked like the man to beat him. He then clearly lost, as even though Dvalishvili actually showed some rare signs of slowing down, Nurmagomedov was even more exhausted down the stretch. Scarily enough, Dvalishvili’s last fight—a win in a rematch over O’Malley—suggests he might still be improving, as in the face of some improved takedown defense from the American, Dvalishvili wound up showing his improvements as a striker before finishing the fight via submission anyway. While it’s nice to see Sandhagen get his long-awaited title shot, the challenger certainly appears to be facing an uphill battle.

Sandhagen’s UFC debut was a complete afterthought, as it was thrown together on a week’s notice to help fill out a card that lost some fights, but that only made his rapid ascent all the more impressive. Sandhagen worked his way to contender status on the back of a breakout 2019 campaign. John Lineker and Raphael Assuncao each figured to be too much too soon for Sandhagen, but he instead handled things masterfully, adeptly using his reach and willingness to throw out volume to stay ahead of both opponents. Then came a bit of a rough stretch thanks to a series of losses against future and former champions, but Sandhagen came out the other side as an improved fighter, showing his versatility in a series of wins over Yadong Song, Marlon Vera and Rob Font. Sandhagen easily could have gotten a title shot after the win over Font, but a triceps tear suffered in the fight kept him out of action for a year, forcing him to defend his top contender status against Nurmagomedov upon his return. The result has aged better with Nurmagomedov’s near-miss against Dvalishvili, but it was still a disappointing performance from Sandhagen in a loss. Nurmagomedov got to an early lead that Sandhagen from which never truly worked his way back, looking overly patient and remaining a step behind a better athlete with just as well-rounded of a skill set. Sandhagen’s lone fight since then, a May win over Deiveson Figueiredo, was at least a solid return to form. It was a poor showing from Figueiredo, but beyond that, Sandhagen showed some newfound ability to incorporate some power and danger to his game, adding another arrow to his quiver as a fighter who typically plans well for his opponents. It’s unclear how Sandhagen can turn this into a win, save for landing a knockout blow early before Dvalishvili starts to get going. Sandhagen’s reach could frustrate Dvalishvili at times, and the challenger has enough grappling skill to survive over the long haul, but there’s a clear gap in horsepower. Sandhagen is Dvalishvili’s least powerful opponent in a while, even before accounting for all the game-breaking advantages that the champion typically brings to the table. Sandhagen is a worthy contender, but the pick is Dvalishvili via clear decision.



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Ankalaev vs. Pereira
Dvalishvili vs. Sandhagen
Prochazka vs. Rountree
Zalal vs. Emmett
Pyfer vs. Magomedov
The Prelims