Cory Sandhagen beats Merab

[aogiri]

Cory will probably be the underdog because of his performance against Aljo and Merab's 50-45 over Yan but Cory imo has the tools to win. Cory is better than Yan on the backfoot he will move around a lot more making it harder for Merab to track. Aljo and Merab shot like 70 takedowns on Yan and he didn't threaten any uppercuts or knees to make them second guess spamming them but was instead throwing looping hooks against Merab the whole fight.

Cory as shown when he knocked out Frankie on the first td attempt and in his fight tonight throws lots of uppercuts and knees. If he can time Frankie in the first 30 seconds then against a guy who shoots ten times per round he will definitely get the read. It doesn't matter if he gets taken down doing this Merab doesn't have the control or jujitsu of Aljo. I predict a round 3 flying knee

 

[The Legendary Scarface]

Agreed I think he's got a better chance than most ppl are giving him to beat Merab.

That said, I also worry that Merab will be able to bulldoze through some of those takedowns and get Corey in a bad position.

 

[BowserJr]

Doubt it

 

[humdizzle]

i think the size would give merab some issues. corey could catch him in a sub. or a knee.

interesting matchup. corey needs to get him out early though.

 

[markg171]

The ghost of TJ wrestlefucked him.

Absolutely not.

 

[aogiri]

The ghost of TJ wrestlefucked him.

Absolutely not.

Via all the unnecessary spins that he was doing to give up his back in that fight after his highlight spin ko of Moraes. He has stopped that in his last two fights and has come in with smarter game plans including mixing in offensive grappling. I think he learnt from that fight.

 

[Crazy Librarian]

He got taken down by TJ, no way he beats Merab.

 

[Arm Barbarian]

I see a stink-fest ( not to be confused with Tool's, "stink-fist" ) playing out in that one.

 

[HuskySamoan]

He's going to need to land a nasty knee, his punches and kicks don't have enough on them to hurt Merab usually, he tends not to plant his feet or turn over his hips. I don't think he can keep up with Merabs pace or stop the takedowns either, so many Sandhagen can develop or focus on a very aggressive guard with elbows kind of like Yair and look to land that knee everytime Merab tries to close distance.

I give Sandhagen like a 20-25% chance maybe. Merab most likely dominates him.

 

[aogiri]

He got taken down by TJ, no way he beats Merab.

I do think Merab takes him down but Merab doesn't have the best top control or subs to make him pay. It will be like Leon giving his back and Usman not capitalizing on taking it, allowing Cory to pop up risk free while gaining reads to counter a guy who is going to go forward and spam takedowns.

 

[Tebowned]

Apex, merab has a chance. On a PPV, I'd favor cory lol

 

[textwarrior]

Agreed I think he's got a better chance than most ppl are giving him to beat Merab.

That said, I also worry that Merab will be able to bulldoze through some of those takedowns and get Corey in a bad position.

That division is pretty stacked, the way he lost to Petr and TJ vs Sterling lets me know how he is say a top 5 fighter which means allot.
It means allot because top 5 is another category to go by to be able to gauge Cory
Like we were trying to Gauge Khamzat..but vs Burns...we had better idea before going into that fight.
Just like Shavkat vs Neal
I think he can beat Merab now with Marebs constant pressure like he did in last fight.
Mareb did beat the guy who beat Cory though
I just think style wise,...
Petr like Vera are slow starters...Cory is not...but a quick starter.
however, Cory can put a point on him and Cory is better off his back than Petr
I go with Cory beating him...but TJ and Petr sort of exposed it...but Mareb wont do what those two guys did
Cory proved a little more in this fight in his growth...Still don't think he beats sterling by syle wise.
I go with Cory over Mareb.

 

[aogiri]

He's going to need to land a nasty knee, his punches and kicks don't have enough on them to hurt Merab usually, he tends not to plant his feet or turn over his hips. I don't think he can keep up with Merabs pace or stop the takedowns either, so many Sandhagen can develop or focus on a very aggressive guard with elbows kind of like Yair and look to land that knee everytime Merab tries to close distance.

I give Sandhagen like a 20-25% chance maybe. Merab most likely dominates him.

Merab had such a crazy pace on Yan because Yan is a slow starter, he let Merab choose the pace and got overwhelmed by it. Sandhagen not planting his feet is good he's going to need to move around a lot to stifle the pressure and pick at Merab. Merab's pace won't look as good against a guy not looking like a sitting duck under the forward pressure as Aldo and Yan did.

 

[markg171]

Via all the unnecessary spins that he was doing to give up his back in that fight after his highlight spin ko of Moraes. He has stopped that in his last two fights and has come in with smarter game plans including mixing in offensive grappling. I think he learnt from that fight.

When a near 40 year old, 3 year layoff, post 32 second KO to a FLW, with 1 knee, TJ can wrestlefuck you the issue is your wrestling is shit.

Not exactly how you get wrestlefucked.

 

[mmadeewana]

Merab cardio would give Cory problems.

 

[matrixremaster]

Umar and CCC are the only ones who can stop Merab.

 

[sabretitan]

He got taken down by TJ, no way he beats Merab.

Lol this kid is a genius . Solved everything. Must be a millionaire just picking fights right. Corey got taken down by tj... so merab beats copy.... got it

 

[HuskySamoan]

Merab had such a crazy pace on Yan because Yan is a slow starter, he let Merab choose the pace and got overwhelmed by it. Sandhagen not planting his feet is good he's going to need to move around a lot to stifle the pressure and pick at Merab. Merab's pace won't look as good against a guy not looking like a sitting duck under the forward pressure as Aldo and Yan did.

It's good and bad, you can plant to throw your shots and still be fleet of foot though. If Sandhagen can't get Merab's respect he's going to get walked through all night and taken down.

 

[aogiri]

When a near 40 year old, 3 year layoff, post 32 second KO to a FLW, with 1 knee, TJ can wrestlefuck you the issue is your wrestling is shit.

Not exactly how you get wrestlefucked.

He got him down twice. The first time was for like 20 seconds and TJ was on the defence against Cory's subs while the second time was also 20 second seconds with no damage. All the other times which were via the spins TJ couldn't get him down only hold him against the fence. Cory probably wasn't expecting a wrestling game from TJ but he will def be expecting it against Merab.

This example may turn out bad but Jamahal Hill got outgrappled and taken down by Santos five plus times in their fight and in his very next fight he nullified Glovers grappling completely. It could be a similar situation with Cory, who will be expecting merab to shoot 20+ takedowns.

 

[Crazy Librarian]

Lol this kid is a genius . Solved everything. Must be a millionaire just picking fights right. Corey got taken down by tj... so merab beats copy.... got it