Cody Stamann uninterested in fighting Merab Dvalishvili next: “There are a lot bigger fish in the sea”

Cody Stamann isn’t sure he fights Merab Dvalishvili next.

Stamann and Dvalishvili were supposed to fight on December 5 and February 6. Yet, Stamann hurt his back the first time it was booked and Dvalishvili got COVID-19 the second. For the 13th-ranked bantamweight in Stamann, he says having the fight postponed again wasn’t an option.

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“You know, after it got squashed on the 5th, I put a lot of effort into getting ready for December 5, but I hurt my back and asked for a couple of more weeks. They said no and they wanted somebody else and I get it, that’s the game,” Stamann said on Just Scrap Radio on BJPENN.com. “They couldn’t find anyone, so we get the fight for February 6. I’ve now been training for Merab for four months. Anytime you are putting that much work in, you want the opportunity to get in the cage and take care of business. I was looking for a sure thing. I just wanted to stay ready and hope they would get me someone for this date but if they couldn’t I would’ve waited for Merab on a later date. Lucky for me, they found me an opponent so I will get the opportunity to show how hard I’ve worked.”

To get to Saturday night has been a difficult one for Stamann as he is now on his third opponent in UFC newcomer, Askar Askar. Although he is an unranked guy, Stamann is planning for a dominant performance that earns him a top-10 opponent next.

“Honestly, if I have the performance I plan on having Saturday night, I don’t know if I will need to fight Merab. Merab was just a ranked guy who people think is unbeatable. Nobody wants to fight that guy as people think he’s the best wrestler in the bantamweight division. I don’t see him that way, I think I can wrestle with the guy,” Stamann concluded. “But, I do think he has the best cardio in the division and can push the hardest pace so I wanted to test myself against someone like him. There are a lot bigger fish in the sea, bigger names. We will see what opportunity comes up. But, I would like to see Merab go fight somebody, I’d like to see him beat someone worthy, bring some more name value to the table.”

Do you think we will see Cody Stamann vs Merab Dvalishvili?