{"id":6414,"date":"2025-10-05T14:47:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T13:47:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/?p=6414"},"modified":"2025-10-05T18:54:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T17:54:13","slug":"merab-dvalishvili-overwhelms-cory-sandhagen-with-a-takedown-showcase-at-ufc-320","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/merab-dvalishvili-overwhelms-cory-sandhagen-with-a-takedown-showcase-at-ufc-320\/","title":{"rendered":"Merab Dvalishvili Overwhelms Cory Sandhagen with a Takedown Showcase at UFC 320"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2048\" data-end=\"2288\">At <strong data-start=\"2051\" data-end=\"2062\">UFC 320<\/strong>, <strong data-start=\"2064\" data-end=\"2099\">Merab &#8220;The Machine&#8221; Dvalishvili<\/strong> once again demonstrated his ground wrestling dominance by defeating American <strong data-start=\"2177\" data-end=\"2195\">Cory Sandhagen<\/strong>, successfully defending his under-61 kg bantamweight title for the third consecutive time.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2290\" data-end=\"2586\">The fight started cautiously, with both fighters exchanging strikes in the center of the octagon. Sandhagen showed precision with his stand-up attacks, landing multiple shots on the champion, while Dvalishvili responded with pressure and grappling, though the American\u2019s defense remained solid.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2588\" data-end=\"2897\">By the second round, the momentum shifted in favor of the Georgian champion. Dvalishvili landed a powerful flurry that temporarily knocked Sandhagen down. Taking advantage of the opening, &#8220;The Machine&#8221; followed up with repeated takedowns, wearing down his opponent and asserting clear control over the bout.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"2899\" data-end=\"3142\">Rounds three and four were marked by relentless pressure from Dvalishvili, limiting Sandhagen\u2019s offensive options. Despite a brief stand-up counter from the challenger, the champion effectively used his judo skills to dominate on the ground.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"fr\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83d\udc51 Le roi g\u00e9orgien Mirab Dvalishvili conserve son titre \u00e0 <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/UFC320?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#UFC320<\/a> !<\/p>\n<p>D\u00e9cision unanime apr\u00e8s un combat domin\u00e9 de bout en bout. \ud83d\udcaa\ud83e\udd4a <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/TbsxkY5hjQ\">pic.twitter.com\/TbsxkY5hjQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; mmamag.ma (@jamalsoussi10) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamalsoussi10\/status\/1974790332379488733?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 5, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3144\" data-end=\"3356\">In the fifth and final round, Dvalishvili continued his takedown showcase, setting new records and finishing the fight in complete control. The judges awarded him a <strong data-start=\"3309\" data-end=\"3331\">unanimous decision<\/strong> (49-45, 49-45, 49-46).<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"und\" dir=\"rtl\">\ud83c\udfc6 AND STILL! Merab Dvalishvili dominates Cory Sandhagen and wins by unanimous decision. \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\uddea\ud83d\udc51 3rd successful title defense! \ud83d\ude0d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/UFC320?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#UFC320<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\ud83c\udfc6 \u0648\u0645\u0627 \u0632\u0627\u0644! \u0645\u064a\u0631\u0627\u0628 \u062f\u0641\u0627\u0644\u064a\u0634\u0641\u064a\u0644\u064a \u064a\u0633\u064a\u0637\u0631 \u0639\u0644\u0649 \u0643\u0648\u0631\u064a \u0633\u0627\u0646\u062f\u0647\u0627\u062c\u0646 \u0648\u064a\u062d\u0642\u0642 \u0627\u0644\u0641\u0648\u0632 \u0628\u0627\u0644\u0642\u0631\u0627\u0631 \u0627\u0644\u0625\u062c\u0645\u0627\u0639\u064a. \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\uddea\ud83d\udc51 \u062b\u0627\u0644\u062b \u062f\u0641\u0627\u0639 \u0646\u0627\u062c\u062d \u0639\u0646 \u0627\u0644\u0644\u0642\u0628! \ud83d\ude0d <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/UFC320?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#UFC320<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/h98nMXRyuQ\">pic.twitter.com\/h98nMXRyuQ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; mmamag.ma (@jamalsoussi10) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jamalsoussi10\/status\/1974895146606137420?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 5, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\" data-start=\"3358\" data-end=\"3581\">With this victory, Merab Dvalishvili cements himself as <strong data-start=\"3414\" data-end=\"3467\">an unstoppable force in the bantamweight division<\/strong>, and his pressure-and-wrestling style continues to make him one of the most formidable champions in global MMA.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\"  id=\"_ytid_71920\"  width=\"696\" height=\"391\"  data-origwidth=\"696\" data-origheight=\"391\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/agh2G3_SCxE?enablejsapi=1&#038;autoplay=0&#038;cc_load_policy=0&#038;cc_lang_pref=&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;loop=0&#038;modestbranding=0&#038;rel=1&#038;fs=1&#038;playsinline=0&#038;autohide=2&#038;theme=dark&#038;color=red&#038;controls=1&#038;\" class=\"__youtube_prefs__  epyt-is-override  no-lazyload\" title=\"YouTube player\"  allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen data-no-lazy=\"1\" data-skipgform_ajax_framebjll=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>At UFC 320, Merab &#8220;The Machine&#8221; Dvalishvili once again demonstrated his ground wrestling dominance by defeating American Cory Sandhagen, successfully defending his under-61 kg bantamweight title for the third consecutive time. The fight started cautiously, with both fighters exchanging strikes in the center of the octagon. Sandhagen showed precision with his stand-up attacks, landing multiple [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6415,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,86,21,91],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-6414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mma","8":"category-mma-video","9":"category-ufc-news","10":"category-ufc"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6414"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6414"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6414\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6416,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6414\/revisions\/6416"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mmamag.ma\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}