{"id":277054,"date":"2025-10-04T11:54:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T11:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/277054\/"},"modified":"2025-10-04T11:54:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T11:54:12","slug":"henry-cejudo-shares-surprise-pick-for-merab-dvalishvili-vs-cory-sandhagen-after-bantamweight-goat-claims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/277054\/","title":{"rendered":"Henry Cejudo shares surprise pick for Merab Dvalishvili vs. Cory Sandhagen after bantamweight GOAT claims"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Henry Cejudo is the latest to weigh in on the UFC 320 co-main event.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cejudo\u2019s once-held UFC Bantamweight title is up for grabs this Saturday as champion Merab Dvalishvili<\/a> looks to defend the strap against top contender Cory Sandhagen<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dvalishvili has already defended the title twice this year, defeating the likes of Umar Nurmagomedov<\/a> at UFC 311 and Sean O\u2019Malley<\/a> (again) at UFC 316 in June.<\/p>\n

As for Sandhagen, this is the American\u2019s first title opportunity. The well-rounded \u2018Sandman\u2019 has won four out of his last five fights and is coming off a second-round TKO over two-time flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo.<\/p>\n

Sandhagen is oozing confidence that he\u2019ll finish Dvalishvili, threatening to put his knee through the champ\u2019s face on fight night.<\/p>\n

So, how does Henry Cejudo<\/a>, one of Dvalishvili\u2019s former foes, see the title fight playing out?<\/p>\n

\"MerabPhoto by Hans Gutknecht\/MediaNews Group\/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty ImagesHenry Cejudo picks Cory Sandhagen over Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 320<\/p>\n

Cejudo has said time and time again that Dvalishvili is the greatest bantamweight fighter to ever do it<\/a>.<\/p>\n

However, that doesn\u2019t mean the former two-division champion is riding with Dvalishvili in his next fight.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna go more significant strikes for Cory,\u201d Cejudo predicted on the Pound 4 Pound Podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a technician,\u201d Cejudo said of Sandhagen.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows how to cut the angle. He\u2019s gonna hit him with big strikes. Not just that, but Cory\u2019s a hard dude to put away, man. I don\u2019t know if he\u2019s ever been put away besides Aljo [Aljamain Sterling].<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s that guy. I think we\u2019re gonna hear \u2018And New\u2019, bro, I really do.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Cory\u2019s got all the tools, hands, knees, elbows, could Cory have composure and not lose his gas tank? If he can just find the easiest way to get up and just relax, you\u2019re gonna get taken down.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are going to be taken down repeatedly. But could you just relax, get up, use your strengths. You almost flip the game plan on Merab.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key\u2019s gonna be composure in this fight. Cory\u2019s got better striking,\u201d Cejudo added.<\/p>\n

Henry Cejudo says Merab Dvalishvili should\u2019ve headlined UFC 320<\/p>\n

Dvalishvili, ranked #3 in the UFC\u2019s pound-for-pound rankings, will fight under champion Magomed Ankalaev<\/a> and Alex Pereira<\/a> at UFC 320<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cejudo doesn\u2019t agree with the bout order, saying Dvalishvili vs. Sandhagen should headline the pay-per-view card instead of the light heavyweight title rematch.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey should be the main event,\u201d Cejudo said of Dvalishvili.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not wrong,\u201d former pound-for-pound king Kamaru Usman<\/a> responded.<\/p>\n

\u201cMerab is a guy that deserves that rub,\u201d Usman added.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith what Merab has done so far, he\u2019s a super likable guy. He\u2019s done an incredible job on social media of raising awareness, building himself and his brand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, yeah, I think this would be the time to give a guy like that a shot to really headline,\u201d said Usman.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Henry Cejudo is the latest to weigh in on the UFC 320 co-main event. Cejudo\u2019s once-held UFC Bantamweight…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":277055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[143311,143312,62,552,143313,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-277054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-cory-sandhagen","9":"tag-merab-dvalishvili","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-ufc","12":"tag-ufc-320","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115315767359411157","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=277054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/277054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/277055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=277054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=277054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=277054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}