Merab Dvalishvili's coach gets 100% real about potential Cory Sandhagen challenge after UFC 316 win: "He's tricky"

Merab Dvalishvili's coach recently opened up about his next bantamweight title defense, which is expected to be against top contender Cory Sandhagen. The individual acknowledged Sandhagen to be a tough matchup for Dvalishvili, but voiced confidence in the reigning champion's abilities to defeat the 33-year-old.

Sandhagen was present at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey this past Saturday and witnessed Dvalishvili secure a third-round submmission victory against Sean O'Malley in their rematch at UFC 316. During his post-fight octagon interview with Joe Rogan, the Georgian fighter gave his nod to a 135 pound contest with Sandhagen.

Dvalishvili's coach John Wood recently spoke to Submission radio and offered his thoughts on the potential matchup. Wood admitted that Sandhagen would be a difficult opponent to deal with, however, he was optimistic about 'The Machine's' chances against the no. 4 ranked contender, saying:

''Cory is a great fighter, and I enjoy watching him. 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.''

Wood continued:

''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."

Check out John Wood's comments below (16:59):

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MMA coach discusses Merab Dvalishvili's octagon return

Merab Dvalishvili improved his winning streak to 13 fights by defeating Sean O'Malley at UFC 316. Dvalishvili plans to defend his bantamweight title two more times by the end of 2025, according to his coach John Wood.

In the aforementioned interview with Submission Radio, Wood said:

''I wouldn't mind getting a Vegas card, maybe October. 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." [18:32]