Trevor Wittman urges Cory Sandhagen not to shy away from the grappling exchanges with Merab Dvalishvili.
Sandhagen (18-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) challenges Dvalishvili (20-4 MMA, 13-2 UFC) for the bantamweight title in Saturday’s UFC 320 (pay-per-view, FX/ESPNews/Disney+, ESPN+) co-main event at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Dvalishvili’s relentless pace and grappling have posed serious problems for all his opposition during his rise to the title. However, Sandhagen’s head coach, Wittman, believes people make the mistake of being too defensive minded when trying to fend off Dvalishvili’s takedowns, and that’s not what he wants to see out of his fighter.
“In the three fights that I’ve worked with Cory, the biggest change that I’ve seen is the confidence in his mindset,” Wittman said on UFC Countdown. “It’s being offensive, not being defensive. At the highest level, if you want to be champion and you want to carry that belt for a long period of time, you have to be the aggressor. Cory is one of those sharp shooters. He’s like a ninja.
“So I’ve been calling for a lot of kill shots, really getting that mindset of, ‘Hey, let’s just go out there, let’s be offensive, and let’s meet him.’ I don’t think a lot of guys do that against a guy like Merab. They go out there, and they’re just like, ‘Hey, don’t get taken down,’ and then when you get taken down, you’re on Plan B. I don’t want him thinking that. Can we turn him? Can we sweep him? Can we take him down? That mindset is what it takes to be a champion.”
Dvalishvili may have other plans for Sandhagen as he has reiterated throughout this camp that he plans on showing off his striking and is gunning for a knockout.
