There is normal trash-talking in UFC and MMA, and then there is Cory Sandhagen’s trash talk. Generally known as the ‘good guy’ in the combat sports world with no bone for confrontation in his body, when he does start trash-talking, it’s hilarious. ‘The Sandman’ generally refrains from trash talk, but if he is fired up, his usual irreverent self can drop lines that could make the most talented diss artist shy. Like he did against Marlon Vera after the latter lost against Sean O’Malley. Sandhagen said in his YouTube reaction video that the Ecuadorian fighter was a “punching bag” and had no business fighting Sean O’Malley at UFC 299. 

What did he do this time? Well, he released a sketch taking aim at Deiveson Figueiredo before their May 4th UFC Fight Night Des Moines (UFC on ESPN 67) clash. The sketch was about Sandhagen earning a significant amount of money at Figueiredo’s expense. According to ‘The Sandman’, the 24-4-1 ‘Deus da Guerra’ is a stalker who lurks in Sandhagen’s Onlyf*ns account.

In a video uploaded by MMA Pros Picks on Instagram, Sandhagen, playing a version of himself in the sketch, said the following, “So I gotta take time out of my day, almost every day to, you know, do my Onlyf-ns. Everyone wants to kind of sh-t on me for having them as a sponsor or whatever, but the joke’s on you, I made $2 million last month. Mostly from this guy. I don’t know who he is. His tagger name is ‘Godofhorrors69’. I’m pretty sure it’s Figgy [Figueiredo]. Everything he writes me is in broken English…He makes me do all kinds of crazy sh-t for him, like sing stupid karaoke songs.”

But instead of the former flyweight champion, guess who took to the comments section to reply? None other than the undisputed bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili who seemed surprised at thing tongue-in-cheek video by Cory Sandhagen. ‘The Machine’ commented, “Wow, Cory starts trash talk.”

So, why did Merab Dvalishvili bother commenting on the sketch video? Well, most likely because Cory Sandhagen has thrashed Dvalishvili before, especially in the run up to UFC 311, where he predicted (and hoped) Umar Nurmagomedov would beat Dvalishvili. When that didn’t happen, ‘The Sandman’ explained what went wrong in that bout for ‘Young Eagle’, and came up with the perfect gameplan to beat the champion. What did he say? Let’s find out.

Cory Sandhagen is confident about beating Merab Dvalishvili

‘The Sandman’ pointed out a critical mistake in the approach that all fighters, including ‘Young Eagle,’ made against Dvalishvili. ‘The Sandman’ believes his loss to Khabib’s student Umar Nurmagomedov proves it. While speaking to Luke Thomas, Sandhagen said that Umar shouldn’t have backed away from Merab’s pressure. 

“The more that you move your feet, the more tired you’re gonna get, especially if that movement is backward. You have to stand your ground against Merab,” Sandhagen said before further stating, “Don’t run from him, and hit him when he comes in. Make your movement a lot smaller because it is all that footwork that tires people out.” 

So, as per the Colorado native, it’s imperative to stand your ground against Dvalishvili’s pressure. Rather than evading his pressure, one must stand their ground against Dvalishvili and catch him on the way in. He further stated, “It’s not a matter of shape, it’s more style and resource usage.” 

While this game plan makes sense, it would perhaps be harder to execute it inside the cage Dvalishvili standing across from you. Will Sandhangen’s game plan work? We’ll only find out once they’re in front of each other. Meanwhile, he has to face Figueiredo at UFC on ESPN 67. Will he be able to win against the Brazilian? Share your thoughts in the comments.