Sean O'Malley issues honest preview of Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen title fight at UFC 320: "He's built for fighting"

Sean O'Malley recently shared his thoughts on the upcoming Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen title fight at UFC 320 in October. 'Suga' explained that he wasn't surprised to see Dvalishvili compete just months after his last outing and lauded Sandhagen as "one of the most skilled" fighters in the UFC.

Dvalishvili is coming off a statement third-round submission win over O'Malley in their rematch at UFC 316 in June. In their previous encounter, Dvalishvili outpointed O'Malley over five rounds to win the 135-pound title via unanimous decision. He's now riding a 13-fight win streak with recorded wins over high-profile opponents like Henry Cejudo, Petr Yan, Umar Nurmagomedov, and Jose Aldo.

Meanwhile, Sandhagen is coming off a second-round knockout victory over Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Des Moines in May and is 4-1 in his last five outings. In an interview with MMA Junkie, O'Malley broke down the Dvalishvili vs. Sandhagen showdown and said:

"The dude [Dvalishvili] jumped into a frozen lake on top of his head; not surprised that he's fighting back-to-back-to-back times. He's a savage. He's built for fighting, and why not take advantage of it? Not surprised at all... He's sloppy in certain positions, and he's beatable. He's definitely beatable, and you can't count Cory out."

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He continued:

"Cory is one of the most skilled guys in the UFC, not just in the bantamweight division. You can't count Cory out. I'm very curious to see how that fight plays out, what happens if Merab gets a hold of Cory. Merab felt super strong, so I'm curious to see what kind of scrambles Cory can create and if he can give him any trouble." [H/t: MMA Junkie]

Watch the full interview below:

When Sean O'Malley claimed he could beat Merab Dvalishvili in potential trilogy fight

Sean O'Malley is confident about beating Merab Dvalishvili if they run it back a third time. Last month, the Montana native shared his thoughts on a potential rematch and admitted that he was "delusional" enough to believe he could beat the reigning bantamweight king.

In a YouTube video, O'Malley referenced Max Holloway's win over Dustin Poirier at UFC 318 while previewing Dvalishvili's fight against Cory Sandhagen and said:

“I think Cory’s going to be surprised how strong that little Georgian feels. But also, I could be completely wrong. Cory could go out there and hit some beautiful scrambles and completely make Merab look silly. I truly believed I was going to go out there and make Merab look stupid. I am still so delusional that I still believe I can do that. Max Holloway beat Dustin in his third fight. Lost the first two. So never say never.”

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Edited by Nishant Zende.