Merab Dvalishvili’s coach: Cory Sandhagen has ‘got to slow down a freight train’

Ray Longo sees a massive challenge ahead for Cory Sandhagen at UFC 320.

Merab Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) will look to notch his third bantamweight title defense of the year when he meets Sandhagen (18-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 320 co-main event from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

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Sandhagen is a big underdog against Dvalishvili, and Longo expects it to be a long night for him.

“I’ve always been a big Sandhagen fan from Day One,” Longo said on the “Anik & Florian” podcast. “I like his attitude. I like his approach to everything. Sandhagen is dangerous, and you know this is his one opportunity.

“It is a big, big task, but you obviously can’t go to sleep on a guy like Sandhagen. I think he’s only got one way to get Merab out of there: He’s got to slow down a freight train in front of him. But Sandhagen is super talented.”

Dvalishvili rallied to outlast Umar Nurmagomedov at UFC 311 in January, then submitted Sean O’Malley in their rematch at UFC 316 in June. According to FanDuel, he is a -440 favorite over Sandhagen, who is a +300 underdog.

This article originally appeared on MMA Junkie: Ray Longo: Cory Sandhagen has ‘got to slow down a freight train’