Cory Sandhagen Pinpoints Flaw in Nurmagomedov’s Strategy vs. Dvalishvili at UFC 311

👀🔥Cory Sandhagen breaks down how he would beat Merab Dvalishvili:

"Don’t run from him, and hit him when he comes in.

Advertisement

Make your movement a lot smaller because it is all that footwork that really tires people out."

🎥 @lthomasnews ▫️ pic.twitter.com/7QDAWOl3fb

— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) March 31, 2025

Cory Sandhagen believes he sees a path to victory for Umar Nurmagomedov against Merab Dvalishvili if they were to meet again.

Dvalishvili defended his bantamweight title against Nurmagomedov via unanimous decision at UFC 311 this past January. Sandhagen believes Nurmagomedov did an excellent job of countering Dvalishvili’s wrestling. However, Sandhagen thinks the Dagestani contender would have done better to control his footwork instead of tiring himself out. Sandhagen believes standing one’s ground instead of backing up is the key to victory against a pressure fighter like Dvalishvili.

“If I was Umar and I could refight that fight – because he was wrestling really good —some of the defenses to the wrestling were amazing,” Sandhagen told Luke thomas. “Even just from physically being able to be that flexible is crazy. I would say to him, ‘Hey man, quit being so jumpy, stand in the middle of the cage, when Merab backs you up, circle yourself back in the middle of the cage again and don’t run from him. Hit him when he comes in and make your movements a lot smaller. Because it is all that footwork that really tires people out.”

Dvalishvili is now on a 12-fight winning streak including a title win over Sean O’Malley followed by a defense against the previously undefeated Nurmagomedov. Meanwhile, Sandhagen comes off a unanimous decision loss against Nurmagomedov which ended a three-fight winning streak. “Sandman” is now set to return against former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo at UFC Des Moines on May 3 at the Well Fargo Arena.