Looking past Sean O’Malley? Merab Dvalishvili already has eyes on next contender: ‘Cory Sandhagen is ready’

Merab Dvalishvili might just have too much energy.

The UFC’s cardio king (sorry Khabib) is famous for his endless gas tank, which has repeatedly allowed him to make extraordinary opponents look pretty pedestrian. He can push a ridiculous pace and shoot takedowns constantly for 25 full minutes, looking like he’s ready to do it again by the time the post-fight interviews roll around. He carries that same energy in his personal life, where Dvalishvili is consistently doing crazy things like jumping into frozen lakes and filming skits about his upcoming opponents.

Nobody can say it isn’t working for him. “The Machine” is riding an all-time great 12-fight win streak over some exceptional competition, and he’s the defending UFC champion. However, just days away from his title rematch with Sean O’Malley in the UFC 316 main event, he’s already talking about his next opponent?

“Looks like Cory Sandhagen is ready for me.”

Merab Dvalishvili is already setting his sights on a quick turnaround after #UFC316 with his next title challenger in mind. pic.twitter.com/JfV0FwthZB

— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) June 1, 2025

“I want to be busy,” He told MMA Junkie. “I will be happy if I fight two more times this year. It looks like Cory Sandhagen is ready for me. We never fought each other, he’s a great contender. He’s fought everybody, he has a good style, is a good fighter we all know. He’s beat a lot of guys in our division, and I don’t mind to take another quick turnaround fight and then fight one more end of this year either in New York or my new home Las Vegas.”

Part of Merab Dvalishvili’s urgency is likely due to his extended rise to gold. By the time Dvalishvili had won seven in a row, nobody was excited about facing “The Machine.” Subsequently, he was only able to fight once in 2022 and 2023. Perhaps he’s simply trying to make up for lost time now that he has the belt and everybody wants a piece of him?

At the same time, we’ve seen extremely active schedules negatively affect previous champions like Israel Adesanya and lead to eventual regrets. If “Suga” catches Dvalishvili this weekend, this interview is suddenly a bad look for the Georgian champion.

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TWO TITLE TILTS! Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) continues its 2025 pay-per-view (PPV) schedule on Sat., May 10, 2025, with a championship doubleheader headlining UFC 315 from Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In the main event, Welterweight champion, Belal Muhammad, defends his title against striking sensation, Jack Della Maddalena (not Shavkat), in a thrilling five-round clash. UFC 315’s PPV co-main event features women’s Flyweight queenpin, Valentina Shevchenko, beginning her second reign against top-ranked contender, Manon Fiorot, in a high-stakes, five-round battle. UFC 315 also showcases a Bantamweight showdown between legend Jose Aldo and Aiemann Zahabi, as well as a women’s Flyweight bout pitting Alexa Grasso vs. Natalia Silva and much more! UFC 315’s start time is scheduled for 6 p.m. ET (“Early Prelims”), 8 p.m. ET (“Prelims” undercard), and 10 p.m. ET (PPV main card).

Don’t miss a single second of EPIC face-punching action!

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