Cory Sandhagen

Cody Garbrandt focused on becoming a two-division UFC champion

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This weekend at UFC Vegas 27, former bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt (12-3) returns in the main event. Garbrandt is taking on the surging contender Rob Font (18-4) in a pivotal matchup for the bantamweight division.

The last year has been really difficult for the former UFC champion. Garbrandt last fought at UFC 250 last June where he knocked out Raphael Assuncao in the second round with a savage right hand.

It was a massive win for Garbrandt who snapped a three-fight losing streak with that win. After the win, Garbrandt came out and said that he was going to drop to flyweight and challenge for the UFC‘s flyweight title.

The promotion booked him against the champion Deiveson Figueiredo (20-1-1) at UFC 255. However, after a battle with COVID, Garbrandt had to pull out of the fight. Figueiredo ended up defeating Alex Perez that night and fought to a draw a few weeks later against Brandon Moreno (18-5-2).

At UFC 263, Figueiredo and Moreno will rematch after their first fight was scored a draw. That delayed Garbrandt’s chances at the flyweight title and as a result, he decided to stay at bantamweight to fight Rob Font.

The former UFC champion now finds himself in a unique spot. If he wins on Saturday, he could be one of the first in line to fight for the bantamweight title. However, he also could be the next in line for the flyweight title after UFC 263.

Garbrandt’s two-division UFC dream

In speaking to the media this week prior to UFC Vegas 27, Garbrandt made it clear that he sees two titles in his future. He laid out a scenario in which he can become a two-division champion in the next year.

Garbrandt pointed out the fact that if he wins Saturday and the winner of Figueiredo/Moreno comes out clean, he could fight the winner in a few months. That would be his chance to capture the UFC flyweight title.

If that were to happen, Garbrandt could then move back up to challenge the bantamweight champion. Champion Aljamain Sterling (20-3) and Petr Yan (15-2) are expected to rematch in the fall after Sterling won the title by DQ at UFC 259.

TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen are fighting in July and the winner of that matchup might be next. However, Garbrandt could be the second in line after Sandhagen/Dillashaw.

If “No Love” wins at UFC Vegas 27 then drops down to become the flyweight champion, he very well could fight for the bantamweight title next year. It’s a steep ask, but Garbrandt seems up to the challenge. You can see his full pre-fight media scrum below.

UFC rebooks headliner between TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen

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The UFC has rebooked one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the summer. MMA Junkie was the first to report this evening that the promotion has landed on a new date for the headliner between TJ Dillashaw (16-4) and Cory Sandhagen (14-2).

The matchup will not headline the UFC‘s Fight Night on July 24th. Originally, the two were supposed to headline a Fight Night on May 8th. This matchup was being looked at as a bantamweight title eliminator.

However, Dillashaw suffered a nasty cut in training and the fight was called off. Since then, the UFC has been working towards a new date and tonight, the deal was finalized for July 24th.

With a title shot off the table for Cory Sandhagen, the next best thing in this shot against TJ Dillashaw. He’s getting to fight the UFC former champion with a title shot on the line.

The Sandman has seen his stock rise a ton over the past few months. After a slipup against Aljamain Sterling back at UFC 250, Sandhagen scored highlight reel knockouts over Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar.

Knocking out the former UFC lightweight champion in the manner that he did really showed people how good Sandhagen is. Now, he’s going to get the fight that he wanted in taking on the returning TJ Dillashaw.

Dillashaw’s UFC return

After two and a half years away, TJ Dillashaw is finally returning to the octagon. The former UFC bantamweight champion came off of a suspension that ended in January which kept him away since January 2019.

Dillashaw never lost his title inside the octagon. The former champion was forced to relinquish the title after he popped for EPO after his failed attempt to become a two-division UFC champion against Henry Cejudo.

Dillashaw said that he took it to assist with his energy levels as he was trying to make 125 pounds. He insists that he’s never taken it before. However, there have been a lot of questions regarding Dillashaw’s potential use of EPO prior to the Cejudo fight.

With that, many are wondering just how good TJ Dillashaw is. Well, the former UFC champion gets the opportunity to show the world on May 8th. If he comes out and dominates Cory Sandhagen while passing all drug tests, that will say a lot about how good TJ Dillashaw really is.

UFC: TJ Dillashaw – Cory Sandhagen is off; Michelle Waterson – Marina Rodriguez to headline May 8th card

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The UFC return of TJ Dillashaw (16-4) is going to take a little longer. The former bantamweight champion took to Instagram tonight to announce that he suffered a bad cut during training and his main event against Cory Sandhagen is off (14-2).

The fight was scheduled to headline the UFC‘s Fight Night on May 8th. Dillashaw said in the post that they are working on rebooking the fight as soon as possible. It’s likely we will see the fight in either late May or early June depending on how the cut heals.

This fight had extreme importance in the UFC‘s bantamweight division. This was being looked at as a title eliminator and it still likely will be. Originally, the UFC was planning on having the winner of this fight face the winner of the Petr Yan – Aljamain Sterling fight.

However, after Sterling won by DQ, things took at turn. The promotion started working on the rematch, but Sterling opted for neck surgery which will keep him out of action until near the end of the year.

The UFC was supposedly kicking the tires on having Dillashaw or Sandhagen fight Yan for an interim title depending on how Sterling was recovering. Ultimately, that might still happen, but a lot will depend on Dillashaw’s recovery.

New UFC main event

With Dillashaw out of the fight, the UFC has shifted their attention to a new headliner. According to ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, the front runner for the new headlining fight is Michelle Waterson (18-8) – Marina Rodriguez (13-1-2).

Waterson last fought in September in a main event against Angela Hill. That night, those two stole the show and Waterson walked away with a split decision victory.

We last saw Marina Rodriguez at UFC 257 when she took on Amanda Ribas. Ribas had a ton of momentum heading into that fight, but Rodriguez stopped it all with a TKO in the second round. This should be a fantastic matchup and a very important one for the strawweight division.

UFC: Aljamain Sterling to have neck surgery which will sideline him until the end of the year

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UFC fans are going to have to wait for the rematch between Aljamain Sterling (20-3) and Petr Yan (15-2). The bantamweight champion told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto that he’s set for neck surgery on April 15th.

The surgery is to address a medical issue that Sterling has apparently been dealing with for the past ten years. There had been whispers of a summer rematch between Sterling and Yan, but that is now off the table. Sterling won the title by disqualification last month.

The UFC champion told ESPN, “They told me I will heal in three months, and can start doing cardio to get myself ready. They wouldn’t want to see me take a fight until they see everything has fused in my neck correctly. Five months would be ideal.”

Sterling went on to say that he doesn’t believe that the UFC should make an interim title. He pointed out that Yan went the same amount of time between winning the title and their matchup at UFC 259.

What’s next for the UFC?

Sterling told ESPN that in an ideal world he would defend his title in either late October or early November. So, what does the UFC do and will Petr Yan sit on the sidelines for that amount of time?

I’m really not sure what’s going to happen because this surgery screws up the entire timeline. The UFC wanted Sterling and Yan to rematch in the summer. The plan was to have the winner of TJ Dillashaw – Cory Sandhagen fight for the title in the fall.

However, with Sterling out, all bets are off. If I had to guess, I think the UFC is going to make an interim title. I could be dead wrong, but something tells me that they will.

My guess is that the winner of TJ Dillashaw – Cory Sandhagen will fight Petr Yan in the summer for the interim title. The winner of that matchup would then fight Sterling for the undisputed UFC title in the fall. Might not make sense to Sterling, but that’s the direction I think the promotion goes in.

BREAKING: UFC booking main event between TJ Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen

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The UFC has finalized a couple of massive main events in the bantamweight division this evening. First, we learned that the promotion has booked a main event on May 22nd between Cody Garbrandt and Rob Font. 

Just minutes later after that news broke, we learned of another UFC main event in the bantamweight division. And this one is going to be the title eliminator. Per ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, TJ Dillashaw (16-4) will be returning to take on Cory Sandhagen (14-2).

This fight has been rumored for a couple of weeks, but it has now been agreed to by all sides. Cory Sandhagen isn’t getting a UFC title shot, but he’s getting the next best thing in this shot against TJ Dillashaw. He’s getting to fight the former champion with a title shot on the line.

The Sandman has seen his stock rise a ton over the past few months. After a slipup against Aljamain Sterling back at UFC 250, Sandhagen scored highlight reel knockouts over Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar.

Knocking out the former UFC lightweight champion in the manner that he did really showed people how good Sandhagen is. Now, he’s going to get the fight that he wanted in taking on the returning TJ Dillashaw.

Dillashaw’s UFC return

After two and a half years away, TJ Dillashaw is finally returning to the octagon. The former UFC bantamweight champion just came off of a suspension that ended in January which kept him away since January 2019.

Dillashaw never lost his title inside the octagon. The former champion was forced to relinquish the title after he popped for EPO after his failed attempt to become a two-division UFC champion against Henry Cejudo.

Dillashaw said that he took it to assist with his energy levels as he was trying to make 125 pounds. He insists that he’s never taken it before, but there have been a lot of questions regarding Dillashaw’s potential use of EPO prior to the Cejudo fight.

With that, many are wondering just how good TJ Dillashaw is. Well, the former UFC champion gets the opportunity to show the world on May 8th. If he comes out and dominates Cory Sandhagen while passing all drug tests, that will say a lot about how good TJ Dillashaw really is.

State of the bantamweight division after UFC 259

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UFC 259 was supposed to provide some clarity in the bantamweight division. While Petr Yan (15-2) was the champion, many questioned how legit he was as the champion seeing as the two wins he had leading to the title came against Urijah Faber and Jose Aldo (29-7).

While both are great former champions, neither are considered to be the cream of the crop at 135 pounds. Aljamain Sterling (20-3) on the other hands was considered by everyone to be the number one contender.

Sterling had been on an incredible run and was expected to be the biggest challenge for Yan. Had Yan defeated Sterling, you couldn’t question the legitimacy of his title reign. Well, for almost four rounds at UFC 259, it looked like we were heading that direction.

Aljamain Sterling was putting up a good fight, but Petr Yan was in control on Saturday night. Sterling was fading badly and it looked like we were getting close to a potential Petr Yan stoppage win. However, that’s when chaos erupted.

With about 30 seconds left in the fourth round, Aljamain Sterling was grounded with one knee on the floor. Yan looked to his corner for instructions and someone said he was good to throw a knee. Yan launched a knee that hit Sterling flush in the temple.

That knee ultimately prevented Sterling from being able to continue. As a result, Yan was disqualified and Sterling won the title. While Sterling was on his way to losing, he gets a DQ win and walked out of UFC 259 the bantamweight champion.

State of the UFC’s bantamweight division

With all of this controversy, Dana White said that the UFC will immediately book the rematch between Sterling and Yan. While Sterling has the title, there’s virtually no one that views him as the champion with him winning in that fashion.

To me, it’s almost like the title is vacant. I don’t think either man should have the title at the moment, but my opinion doesn’t matter. Sterling will go into the rematch with Yan as the bantamweight champion.

With that rematch in the works, the UFC will now look to book Cory Sandhagen (14-2) against former champion, TJ Dillashaw (16-4). Dillashaw is eligible to fight now that he’s off suspension and Dana White said he would be in a title eliminator in his first fight back.

Considering the spots in the division, it appears that Dillashaw and Sandhagen are on a collision course. The next spot in the rankings belongs to Rob Font (18-4). In my opinion, I would love to see Font fight former UFC champion, Cody Garbrandt (12-3) next.

However, Garbrandt has been chasing a fight with Jose Aldo next. If that happens, Font will need a new fight. Based on the rankings, the only fight that would make sense for Font is Pedro Munhoz (19-5, 1 NC).

Munhoz is in the top ten and he’s coming off of a very impressive win against Jimmie Rivera. Prior to that he lost a debatable decision to Frankie Edgar. Had that decision gone towards Munhoz, he’d be in the top five right now. The promotion will get these guys paired up and it should be an exciting 2021 at 135.

After highlight knockout at UFC Vegas 18, what’s next for Cory Sandhagen?

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One of the most highly anticipated matchups at UFC Vegas 18 was the bantamweight matchup between Cory Sandhagen (14-2) and Frankie Edgar (24-9-1). This fight was looked at as a title eliminator in the UFC‘s bantamweight division.

Going into the fight, I was really leaning towards Frankie Edgar. Yes, Edgar is the much older fighter and Sandhagen has so much promise. However, there’s just something about Edgar that makes it hard to bet against sometimes.

I figured that Edgar’s pressure and activity levels would be enough to score a decision. However, I was completely wrong about the outcome. Like I expected, Edgar came out at UFC Vegas 18 with a lot of pressure.

In the opening seconds, Sandhagen was already on his bicycle on the outside. Sandhagen did a good job of landing some good calf kicks that prevented an Edgar entry early on. Then, as soon as Edgar made his move inside, Sandhagen launched with a gorgeous flying knee.

The knee landed flush on Edgar’s chin and the former UFC lightweight champion went crashing to the canvas. That knee was so beautifully timed and it made a statement from Cory Sandhagen to the UFC‘s bantamweight division.

What’s next after UFC Vegas 18?

There is only one possible thing next for Cory Sandhagen after UFC Vegas 18. That one thing is a title shot. There is nothing left for Sandhagen to do after that performance on Saturday night.

Next month at UFC 259, Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling will battle it out for the bantamweight championship. Whoever wins that night will be the next man to take on Cory Sandhagen inside the octagon.

There is already history between Sandhagen and Aljamain Sterling (19-3). Sterling dismantled Sandhagen last June and choked him unconscious in under 90 seconds to earn his UFC title shot. A rematch between the two would be fun.

Of course, then you have the champion, Petr Yan (15-1). Yan has all the makings of a guy who can be champion for a long time. However, to do that, he’s going to have to defeat Sterling and Sandhagen next. An extremely tall order for the UFC champion.

After a brutal knockout loss at UFC Vegas 18, what’s next for Frankie Edgar?

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This past weekend at UFC Vegas 18, we saw a potential title eliminator in the co-main event of the evening. Former lightweight champion, Frankie Edgar (24-9-1), took on Cory Sandhagen (14-2). The winner was likely going to get the next shot at the UFC bantamweight title.

Leading up to the fight, I really liked Frankie Edgar in this matchup. While there was obviously a lot of hype surrounding Sandhagen, I liked the pace and pressure that Edgar was going to bring. I especially liked that style in the smaller cage. In the end, I thought he could get a decision win at UFC Vegas 18.

Boy, was I wrong about that one. Edgar did immediately start the fight by pressuring Sandhagen. With the smaller cage, it was going to be easier for Edgar to close the gap on the much taller Sandhagen. Sandhagen does his best work from distance.

Just 28 seconds into the first round, Sandhagen launched into the air with a beautiful flying knee as Edgar came in. The knee landed flush on the chin of Edgar and he was out cold. The former UFC champion fell face first in brutal fashion as Sandhagen celebrated his beautiful knockout win.

What’s next after UFC Vegas 18?

After years of competing at lightweight and featherweight, Frankie Edgar appears to be in his most natural weight class at bantamweight. While he was just one win away from a title shot, this is a brutal loss that’ll be tough to come back from.

Edgar has been finished by strikes before, but nothing quite like what happened at UFC Vegas 18. We’ve never seen him knocked out in that fashion. The former UFC champion turns 40 this year, and this is not what he needed to happen.

So what does the UFC do with Edgar next? I can’t see Edgar going out like that and I believe he will keep fighting despite the loss. Personally, the fight I would love to see him in next is a matchup with former bantamweight champion, Dominick Cruz (22-3).

Cruz makes his return to the UFC next month when he takes on rising contender, Casey Kenney (16-2-1). Should Cruz get the win there, I think it would be a great fight for the promotion to make. Perhaps a main event on a Fight Night over the summer.

Whoever would win that fight would be in a position for a final run towards a UFC title. While the loser might be ready to walk away from the sport. There are other options, but this is my favorite for The Answer.

Cory Sandhagen KOs Frankie Edgar with a flying knee at UFC Vegas 18

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In the co-main event of UFC Vegas 18, we had a pivotal matchup in the bantamweight division. Former lightweight champion, Frankie Edgar (24-8-1) took on Cory Sandhagen (13-2). The winner could be next in line for a bantamweight title shot.

The former UFC lightweight champion was making his second appearance at bantamweight. Edgar made his debut in the division back in August when he defeated Pedro Munhoz by decision in a very close fight.

After being the smaller guy for his entire career, Edgar finally appears at home in the UFC‘s bantamweight division. Standing across from him this evening was one of the top contenders in the division, Cory Sandhagen.

Sandhagen had a title eliminator back at UFC 250 against Aljamain Sterling. Unfortunately for him, he was submitted in the first round. However, he bounced back beautifully with a knockout of Marlon Moraes. A win over Edgar should put him next in line for a title shot.

UFC Vegas 18 Recap

Round 1

The UFC Vegas 18 co-main event opened with no touch of the gloves. Sandhagen was circling around the outside and Edgar was looking to pressure. A couple of nice calf kicks land for Cory Sandhagen.

Frankie Edgar moves forward and Sandhagen explodes with a massive flying knee that knocks Frankie Edgar out cold. Edgar falls forward lifeless and it’s a massive victory for Cory Sandhagen. He’s clearly the number one contender in the UFC’s bantamweight division.

Cory Sandhagen def. Frankie Edgar by KO (Flying Knee) – Round 1

UFC Vegas 18 Preview: Frankie Edgar – Cory Sandhagen

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Frankie Edgar

Tomorrow night in the co-main event of UFC Vegas 18, we will see a massive fight for the bantamweight division. Former lightweight champion, Frankie Edgar (24-8-1), will be taking on top contender, Cory Sandhagen (13-2).

The former UFC champion made his bantamweight debut back in August. Despite being a champion at 155 pounds and a top contender at 145 pounds, Edgar appears to be right at home at 135 pounds.

Edgar took on Pedro Munhoz back in August and the fight was fantastic. It was razor close, but ultimately the former UFC champion got his hand raised that night. That win has led him to this spot against Cory Sandhagen.

Sandhagen found himself in a title eliminator back at UFC 250. That night he took on Aljamain Sterling and the winner was going to get a title shot. Sandhagen was the favorite in many eyes but was destroyed by Sterling.

The Sandman bounced back and knocked out Marlon Moraes on Fight Island to get back on track. Now, at UFC Vegas 18, Sandhagen is looking to reestablish himself as the top contender at 135 pounds.

UFC Vegas 18 Prediction

Over the past few weeks, I’ve gone back and forth on this UFC Vegas 18 prediction. When you look at the two men on paper, you’d have to favor Sandhagen. He’s got great striking, he’s got great jiu jitsu, he’s lengthier, and he’s younger.

However, Frankie Edgar always has this unseen advantage. The toughness and never say die attitude of the former UFC champion cannot be measured by typical tale of the tape stats. He’s just got a bit of an it factor about him.

For Sandhagen to get it done tomorrow, I believe he needs to keep this fight at range. Yes, he’s very good on the ground, however, his key to this fight is going to be using his striking from range. Sandhagen needs to have a kick heavy attack tomorrow night.

Edgar on the other hand needs to get this fight close. The former UFC champion needs this fight to stay within his range and look for him to utilize the clinch and some of his wrestling tomorrow. I would also expect a very high output from the former champion which will be key.

I love both of these contenders and I think either would make for a great challenger. While I would lean towards Sandhagen for all the things you see on paper, I just have this weird feeling Edgar gets it done. I think the fight will be at his pace and his activity will be enough to squeak out a decision. Call me crazy.

Prediction: Frankie Edgar by Split Decision