UFC bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili has explained why he didn't mind too much that he wasn't able to get the finish over Cory Sandhagen.
At UFC 320, Merab Dvalishvili successfully defended his UFC bantamweight championship for the third time. He did so against Cory Sandhagen and while elements of the fight were competitive, Merab used both his striking and his superior wrestling to get the better of Sandhagen in Las Vegas.
Now, as we look ahead to the future, Merab Dvalishvili is ready to get straight back to work when he meets Petr Yan at UFC 323 in a blockbuster rematch. If he wins that, discussions will intensify even further regarding his status as the potential bantamweight GOAT.
In a recent interview, 'The Machine' admitted that he was okay with not finishing Sandhagen, despite that being his intention.
Merab Dvalishvili discusses not finishing Cory Sandhagen
“No, actually, it doesn’t bother me that I didn’t finish him, and let me tell you why. After the fight, Cory came up—he was such a cool and respectful guy. During the camp, he was saying some things, joking, and I thought maybe he’s not a nice guy, but after the fight, he was cool, respectful, and I'm glad we went five rounds and no finish, because that would be a bad look for him.
“And the second reason—after I heard I broke another record with 20 takedowns, I said, ‘Yeah, take that.’ You know, the finish is good, but now I have highlights—how many takedowns, how many records.”