By The Numbers: Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen

Merab Dvalishvili has begun the process of legacy building in perhaps the sport’s deepest division.

Now more than a year into his reign at 135 pounds, “The Machine” will defend his undisputed Ultimate Fighting Championship bantamweight title when he meets Cory Sandhagen in the UFC 320 co-main event on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Dvalishvili enters the Octagon on a 13-fight winning streak that stretches back to 2018. He last competed at UFC 316, where he retained his championship with a north-south choke submission of Sean O’Malley in the third round of their June 7 rematch. Sandhagen, meanwhile, has won four of his past five bouts. The Elevation Fight Team rep last saw action on May 3, when a Deiveson Figueiredo knee injury resulted in his being awarded a technical knockout at UFC on ESPN 67.

As Dvalishvili and Sandhagen approach their high-stakes battle in Sin City, a look at some of the numbers that have accompanied them to this point:


34: Years of age for Dvalishvili, who was born on Jan. 10, 1991 in Tbilisi, Georgia—some 6,911 miles from Ultimate Fighting Championship headquarters in Las Vegas.

15: Dvalishvili wins by decision, accounting for 75% of his career total (20). The list of those he has outpointed in the UFC: O’Malley, Umar Nurmagomedov, Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, Jose Aldo, Cody Stamann, John Dodson, Gustavo Lopez, Casey Kenney, Brad Katona and Terrion Ware. Dvalishvili holds three other wins by knockout or technical knockout (15%) and two more by submission (10%).

4: UFC appearances in which Dvalishvili has completed double-digit takedowns. He secured a career-high 13 of them in his three-round unanimous decision over the aforementioned Lopez at UFC on ESPN 10 in June 2020.

200,000: Dollars in post-fight bonuses pocketed by Dvalishvili across his 15 assignments in the UFC. He has been awarded “Fight of the Night” on two occasions and “Performance of the Night” on two others.

60: Combined victories between the four opponents—Ricky Simon, Frankie Saenz, Ricky Bandejas and Darren Mima—who have defeated Dvalishvili. They sport a .659 cumulative winning percentage at 60-31.

33: Years of age for Sandhagen, who was born in Aurora, Colorado, on April 20, 1992. “Basic Instinct,” “Beethoven,” “White Men Can’t Jump,” “Sleepwalkers” and “The Babe” were the Top 5 movies at the domestic box office at the time.

8: Sandhagen victories by knockout or technical knockout, accounting for 44% of his career total (18). His list of UFC victims: Figueiredo, Yadong Song, Frankie Edgar, Marlon Moraes, Iuri Alcantara and Austin Arnett. Sandhagen owns three other victories by submission (17%) and seven more by decision (39%).

28: Seconds needed for Sandhagen to cut down Edgar with a flying knee at UFC Fight Night 184 on Feb. 6, 2021. More than four years later, it remains his fastest finish to date.

11: Consecutive calendar years in which Sandhagen has fought at least once. In addition to his 1-0 mark in 2025, he went 1-0 in 2015, 4-0 in 2016, 1-1 in 2017, 3-0 in 2018, 3-0 in 2019, 1-1 in 2020, 1-2 in 2021, 1-0 in 2022, 2-0 in 2023 and 0-1 in 2024.

.806: Cumulative winning percentage between the five opponents—Nurmagomedov, Yan, T.J. Dillashaw, Aljamain Sterling and Jamall Emmers—who have beaten Sandhagen. They boast a combined record of 100-24.