Merab Dvalishvili outworks Cory Sandhagen to keep title in Las Vegas

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Merab Dvalishvili kept his tally going with a commanding determination implicit Cory Sandhagen successful the co-main lawsuit of UFC 320. The champion seized power successful Round 2, flooring the challenger with a burst of punches and piling up 8 takedowns connected 13 tries. He outlanded him 33–2 successful important strikes that frame, and the code ne'er shifted aft that. The scorecards work 49–45, 49–45, and 49–46.

He admitted helium expected a decorativeness erstwhile the momentum swung. “Remember, I said my program is to sound him out. Almost, almost,” helium said. “Now I deliberation radical volition respect my striking, too.” The powerfulness showed, nevertheless the motor that carried him was the aforesaid 1 we person seen for years.

Relentless wrestling sets records

Across 5 rounds, helium chained attempts without pause, shooting 37 times and landing 20— a UFC grounds for a rubric combat and the 2nd astir successful immoderate bout. It marked his 5th quality with 10 oregon much takedowns and pushed his vocation full to 117, an ongoing promotional record. He has present won 14 straight, the fourth-longest streak successful institution history, and helium has not mislaid since April 2018.

Sandhagen had moments of resistance, yet helium spent astir of the nighttime defending. He stayed composed and did not slice arsenic immoderate past opponents person against this pace, but helium ne'er genuinely threatened to flip the result.

The champion holds the apical spot successful ESPN’s men’s bantamweight rankings and sits No. 3 pound-for-pound. The challenger, 33, entered arsenic ESPN’s No. 5 astatine 135 pounds and was chasing a breakthrough for American men aft Jon Jones’s June status near nary U.S. antheral champion for the archetypal clip since 2004. That storyline volition person to wait. This reign remains intact, and his options enactment wide against contenders specified arsenic proven wrestle-boxers and rangy kickers. For now, helium conscionable keeps winning.

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