Don’t expect to see Cory Sandhagen fight in The Big Apple.

Following an impressive second-round TKO of Deiveson Figueiredo in Des Moines, ‘The Sandman’ should be the next man up for reigning bantamweight world champion Merab Dvalishvili.

Just don’t expect their anticipated title clash to go down this November when the UFC heads back to the world’s most famous arena — Madison Square Garden.

“I hate fighting in New York—the state tax is crazy,” Sandhagen told MMA Fighting. “December in Vegas sounds really good to me.”

Sandhagen’s first crack at undisputed gold has been a long time coming. He came close a couple of times, but ultimately came up short in a title eliminator against Aljamain Sterling before surrendering a unanimous decision to Petr Yan in an interim championship bout four years ago.

Despite the setbacks, Sandhagen’s goal in the fight game has always remained the same.

“I’ve never really cared about being a star or famous. My goal was to be the best fighter in the world at 135, and that’s all that matters to me. I could care less who has the belt—I just want to wear that thing and keep it for a long time.”

‘The Sandman’ is 4-1 in his last five, the lone loss coming against Umar Nurmagomedov.

As for Dvalishvili, ‘The Machine’ is fresh off a dominant submission victory over Sean O’Malley in a rematch that nobody really asked for. No official date has been announced regarding the Georgian’s return to the Octagon, but if Sandhagen gets his wish, they’ll close out the UFC’s 2025 in ‘Sin City’ this Christmas.

Craig Pekios

Craig Pekios is a freelance writer born and raised in Bettendorf, IA. Joining LowKick MMA in May 2022, Craig has more than 4,000 articles published that focus on the world of MMA and boxing, including news, event previews, results, analysis, and op-eds.