Cory Sandhagen

According to UFC Stats, he out-landed Vera in total strikes 193 to 71 and converted three takedowns. Vera's own coach, Jason Parillo, pleaded with his fighter ...

[Aljamain Sterling](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/3031559/aljamain-sterling) in 2020, in a result that was legitimate but also unlikely to be duplicated. Dvalishvili should be available in the meantime, as he has said he does not intend to fight Sterling at any time because they are teammates. Vera is known as one of the most dangerous knockout artists in the division, but Sandhagen more than held his own on the feet. "[The strategy was to] win the early rounds and then know he was going to come at me," Sandhagen said. He took Vera down in the first and second rounds and racked up offense with elbows from top position. According to UFC Stats, he out-landed Vera in total strikes 193 to 71 and converted three takedowns.

Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen's bantamweight fight headlines tonight's UFC Fight Night in Texas. A win for either man this evening will go a long way in ...

- Start time: 7 p.m. - Daniel Pineda vs. - Holly Holm vs. - Marlon Vera vs. [ESPN+ in the U.S. ET / 11 p.m.

A veteran of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America, Vera rides one of the hottest streaks in the UFC's 135-pound division, winning four consecutive bonus-winning ...

5 in MMA Fighting’s bantamweight rankings](https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/3/21/23649425/mma-rankings-march-2023-who-won-the-month-jon-jones-alexa-grasso-or-leon-edwards). A one-time UFC interim title challenger, Sandhagen rebounded from back-to-back losses to score an impressive stoppage win over [Song Yadong](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/4669/song-yadong) in his most recent outing. 6 ranked bantamweight in the world](https://www.mmafighting.com/2023/3/21/23649425/mma-rankings-march-2023-who-won-the-month-jon-jones-alexa-grasso-or-leon-edwards). A veteran of The Ultimate Fighter: Latin America, Vera rides one of the hottest streaks in the UFC’s 135-pound division, winning four consecutive bonus-winning bouts over contenders [Davey Grant](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/2429/davey-grant), [Frankie Edgar](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/60/frankie-edgar), [Rob Font](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/2918/rob-font), and [Dominick Cruz](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/328/dominick-cruz), with the Edgar and Cruz bouts ending in highlight-reel knockouts. [Cory Sandhagen](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/4356/cory-sandhagen), the bantamweight main event on Saturday in San Antonio, Texas. Prior to that slump, Sandhagen was victorious in seven of his first eight UFC appearances.

Sean Zerillo breaks down Saturday's main event between Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen at UFC San Antonio on ESPN.

Moreover, I expect Vera to have superior cardio in the championship rounds. Saturday’s fight should be close and competitive throughout, and it may be difficult for the judges to score round winners. A club and sub, in which Vera takes the back against a wobbled Sandhagen, is live too. The content on this page is for informational purposes only. The likeliest finish, in my opinion, is a Vera submission. We may be compensated for the links provided on this page. Sandhagen may be moving forward early, dictating the pace and leading the dance. Sandhagen is taller, the more efficient striker (+1.94 to -0.73 significant strike differential per minute), and likely the superior wrestler. Based on career averages, over 25 minutes, Sandhagen should attempt nearly 100 more strikes (roughly 350 to 265) than Vera. The UFC is at AT&T Center in San Antonio on Saturday for an 11-fight card featuring a bantamweight showdown between No. Vera often trails on striking volume against his opponents. 3-ranked contender Marlon “Chito” Vera and No.

UFC Fight Night: Vera vs. Sandhagen took place March 25 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. UFC bantamweight contenders Marlon Vera (20-8-1) and Cory ...

Vera explodes forward with a flurry but misses. Vera catches a kick then finds a home for a nasty elbow. Sandhagen nails him with a left to the body. Three minutes for Vera to find a Hail Mary. Vera is getting frustrated with all this movement — he raising his hands up and calls for Sandhagen to brawl. Sandhagen pumps his jump then cracks Vera with a right hand. Sandhagen spins and misses with a kick. Vera attempts to scramble out but Sandhagen sticks to him like glue. Vera wades forward with a combination but misses. Vera misses with a spinning back kick at the horn. Vera goes low with a powerful kick. Sandhagen closes the gap and drags Vera to the floor, then starts unloading punches and elbows from top position.

A bantamweight match between No. 3 ranked Marlon Vera and No. 5 ranked Cory Sandhagen headlined Saturday's UFC San Antonio fight card in Texas.

Vera connected with a combination. Sandhagen answered with a combination. Sandhagen landed a combination. Sandhagen continued to pressure Vera in the second round. Sandhagen pressured Vera before looking to get the fight to the ground. Vera opened up a cut on Sandhagen with an elbow from the bottom, but the opening round was all Sandhagen.

Sandhagen landed 187 total strikes to Vera's 73 in taking two of the cards, 50-45 and 49-46. One judge gave the fight to Vera, 48-47. ADVERTISEMENT.

“I knew that was going to happen. So, I took him down early and moved my ass around in [Rounds] 3, 4 and 5. “[The strategy was to] win the early rounds and then know he was going to come at me,” Sandhagen said.

Two of the judges had it 50-45 and 49-46 for Sandhagen, while Joel Ojeda had one of the worst scorecards ever and had it 48-47 for Vera.

This weekend's bantamweight bout between Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen is shaping up to be a classic. Both fighters are coming off impressive victories ...

While this is the case, being fully willing to lose the output battle round over round is a dangerous tactic given if he cannot find that round-ending blow, he will begin to get behind on the scorecards, thus making him a very difficult fighter to project, similar to that of heavy-handed heavyweights. This ability to find a finish on the mat is extremely important given it gives pause to his opponent with thinking about taking Vera to the mat. Where Marlon Vera gets the deserving respect of being one of, if not, the most threatening strikers in the bantamweight division, Cory Sandhagen falls through the cracks in this discussion even though he has finished 6 of his 8 UFC wins, with KO and submission victories mixed in. Meanwhile, Sandhagen has all the tools you want when betting on a fighter, except for the most important, that is, the ability to win close fights. Moreover, his solid grappling allows him to stuff 68% of takedowns, in turn, keep the fight standing for him to find a powerful blow. The difference, as touched on before is he covers his bases and wins the fight up to that point. To justify this statement, watching his 2-0 2022 campaign would be only needed, as he significantly damaged Rob Font round after round for the full 25-minute duration and KO’d Dominick Cruz in the 4th round of their fight. Because I see the fight as so even, with a slight edge to Vera on the mat, I like the value on Chito as the underdog. Sandhagen maintains a high output with his jab, forcing his opponents to either move in and eat a pull counter, or cover up and eat a follow-up right hook or left hook to the body, low kick. Then, when the opportunity opens, Sandhagen will start to be more aggressive with his striking and movement as he looks to pressure his opponent back into the cage. On the flip side, for those who push back point out, more than not, Vera is able to find that finish, and he does so because he fights without that point style. Vera is known for his striking ability and has been working to improve his grappling game.

UFC on ESPN 43 main event winner Cory Sandhagen is trying to lead by example in his quest for down-to-earth callouts.

UFC bantamweight contender Merab Dvalishvili has responded to Cory Sandhagen's post-UFC San Antonio callout.

Cory Sandhagen admits there's concern about Henry Cejudo returning after a three-year long layoff but he still expects the former champion to retake the ...

I do think it’s a little bit weird that they’re doing the title shot for Cejudo considering Cejudo likes to stir the pot a lot, and I think with a win in the division, I think he’s just going to stir the pot a lot and may or may not be what the UFC wants. I don’t think Cejudo’s been in that frame of mind for a couple of years. “Cejudo has been off for a really long time and I don’t know what he’s been doing in his off time,” Sandhagen said. There’s a reason there are weight classes, and I think that Aljamain is going to be way bigger than Cejudo. I think it’s going to be a kickboxing fight with Aljamain still taking a lot of shots but Cejudo keeping him in front of him the whole time. “It is a little bit tricky but honestly I do have Cejudo winning that fight,” Sandhagen told MMA Fighting ahead of UFC San Antonio.

After his big win over Marlon Vera at UFC San Antonio last night (Sat., March 25, 2023), Cory Sandhagen just set a deadline for his next fight against Merab ...

[HERE](https://www.mmamania.com/2023/3/18/23637317/ufc-286-results-live-streaming-ppv-play-by-play-updates-edwards-usman-3-gaethje-fiziev-london-mma). 1, and my fiance will kill me if we have the wedding and I have to still be training for a fight. As for when the two contenders should fight — Dvalishvili fought two weeks ago — the timeline between the two lines-up quite nice. 1, or my fiance will kill both me and Merab. [Merab Dvalishvili](https://www.mmamania.com/2023/3/12/23635936/ufc-las-vegas-morning-after-merab-dvalishvili-cardio-personification-of-pace-petr-yan-espn-mma). [watch highlights](https://www.mmamania.com/2023/3/25/23656201/ufc-san-antonio-highlights-cory-sandhagen-shuts-down-marlon-vera-calls-out-merab-dvalishvili-espn)).