Cory Sandhagen will have to overcome one of the most difficult tests in the history of Bantam weight to finally win UFC Gold, but he has one secret weapon in the gym every day.
Fan favorite Sandhagen is the next challenger for the apparently unbeatable Merab Dvalishvilis 135LB title and needs a great achievement to destroy the Georgian. Since his first two UFC trips, the champion have been defeated, and his newest run has placed him in the legend discussion.
Sandhagen, however, has trained with a few top perspectives, not in the least PFL World Tournament -finalist Justin Wetzell. And the 33-year-old believes that he could offer important help with the mats while his teammate is preparing for the fight of his life at UFC 320.
Cory Sandhagen is preparing for Merab Dvalishvili with PFL World Tournament Finalist
Both Cory Sandhagen and Justin Wetzell have major title fights in the coming weeks. On August 15 in Charlotte, North Carolina will face Marcirley Alves in the PFL World Tournament Bantamweight Finals.
Then on October 4 at UFC 320 Sandhagen finally gets his shot on the gold. “He has a great training partner in myself who will help him with Merab's style,” Wetzell told Bloody Elbow of Sandhagen in an exclusive chat.
“When I am at the end, I know it will not be nice, because if you are there and close that reach, it is very good at attacking you. So after this tournament is over, I will go back to the gym and I will use my style to help him.
“In my opinion it is very similar to Merab's, it has a high cardiobassis, struggling a lot, mixing it up. We push people against the cage and push the pace. That is my style.”
Justin Wetzell believes he can reach the world level after PFL wins
In fact, Wetzell even believes that in a few weeks he will be a PFL champion -he thinks he could also crack the DvalishVili code. However, he must first pass Alves, while his teammate takes care of business in the UFC.
Photo by Ed Mulholland/Zuffa LLC
“I have been saying for years that I know I could beat Merab,” Wetzell continued. “When I am at my game, I know I could beat him. So I want to bring that to Cory and help him prepare and win that belt.
“Then in our gym we will have the UFC belt and the very first PFL 135LB belt in the same place. Bro, that gets so sick … I have been laser-oriented at the tournament, but I want to take some time to decompcrimize because I should definitely give my body a break, I will just say that.”