John Wood believes Cory Sandhagen’s team when they say they will engage in the grappling.
Bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) defends his title against Sandhagen (18-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 320 co-main event from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (pay-per-view, FX/ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+).
Trevor Wittman urged Sandhagen not to fear Dvalishvili’s wrestling and meet him head on. Not only does Wood expect that, he thinks Sandhagen might even be the initiator.
“I want my guys to be able to make that switch when they need to make that switch,” Wood told MMA Junkie Radio. “Go, ‘Oh, I can’t do it this way, but I can do it this way. Stop me here, I can go over here.’ You see all this sh*t, and I’m sure you’re kind of alluding to the fact of what’s going on between Cory – I just saw something about that Cory’s going to take down Merab, and Merab’s talking about standing up and knocking out Cory.
“And all those things are great and possible, and we’re prepared for all of it. I truly do think that Cory will come out and shoot on us. I can almost guarantee it, and if that doesn’t happen then so be it. We’re ready for the next, but we’re ready for anything that goes on in that cage, and you have to be. It doesn’t matter. That’s the game these days.”
On the contrary, Dvalishvili has been eager to show off his hands, predicting a knockout against dangerous striker Sandhagen.
