Cory Sandhagen has an answer for all the critics counting him out before he even steps into the cage with Merab Dvalishvili.
On Tuesday, it was officially announced that Sandhagen (18-5) is booked to challenge Dvalishvili (20-4) for the undisputed bantamweight title in the co-main event of UFC 320 on Oct. 4 in Las Vegas. Dvalishvili is on a 13-fight win streak, including two straight successful title defenses, and will head into his matchup with Sandhagen as a heavy favorite to retain again.
In response
to fans doubting his chances, Sandhagen released a video skit on Instagram mocking trolls and stating why he’s confident he can pull off the upset.
Watch the clip below.
The skit starts with Sandhagen playing a stereotypical troll, shouting in Sandhagen’s face, telling him, “Just want to let you know that you have absolutely no chance to beat Merab.”
The troll continues, “You’re not going to do good. He’s going to win the belt, you’re not going to win the belt, you’re just a stupid boy. ... He’s going to whoop you so bad,” and then begins chanting, “You’re going to die” and calls Sandhagen “delusional.”
That last comment snaps Sandhagen into focus.
“We’re all delusional, OK?” Sandhagen says. “Just because you haven’t worked hard at something and you don’t need to believe in yourself doesn’t mean that I can’t, alright?”
When the troll continues to berate him, Sandhagen responds by slapping the troll across the face, prompting his antagonist to cry out for his mother.
Sandhagen has long been one of the top-ranked bantamweights in the world, but he has fallen short in No. 1 contender bouts on more than one occasion. Aljamain Sterling, T.J. Dillashaw, Petr Yan, and Umar Nurmagomedov are the past four fighters to defeat Sandhagen and all four went on to compete for undisputed UFC gold after facing him.
The 33-year-old has persisted, winning four of his past five bouts, and rebounding from a loss to Nurmagomedov by defeating Deiveson Figueiredo this past May to position himself as the next challenger for Dvalishvili.
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