Cory Sandhagen wants redemption.
Sandhagen’s only two losses since joining the UFC have come at the hands of some high-profile opponents. “The Sandman” lost a title eliminator to Aljamain Sterling at UFC 250, and more recently, the bantamweight contender came out on the wrong end of a split-decision against TJ Dillashaw in July.
In a recent interview, when asked about the possibility of facing off against Dillashaw again should Sterling still be out with neck injuries, Sandhagen claims he has heard nothing about a Dillashaw rematch. However, it could happen depending on how Sterling’s recovery goes.
“Yeah, I’ve definitely thought of that,” Sandhagen said of a potential Dillashaw rematch next. “I can’t wait to rematch the two of those guys because I just really wanna solidify that I’m the best in the division and I think another rematch against TJ where I get to critique just a couple things that I was maybe making a little bit of mistakes on and kinda just redoing the Sterling fight, man, and showing up a lot more for that one than I did in the first fight.
“So yeah, just excited for both of those rematches. But no, the UFC hasn’t said anything about who’s gonna be next. I think it kinda depends on how Sterling’s gonna recover from this and I guess TJ also.”
Cory Sandhagen Breaks Down How Aljamain Sterling Rematch Would Go
It’s clear the ever-improving bantamweight welcomes a potential rematch with both men. In his first bout with Sterling, the grappling standout took Sandhagen’s back and choked him out in under 90 seconds. When asked how a potential rematch would go, Sandhagen predicted a much different outcome.
“Not like the first (fight). Not anywhere close to the first one. I think that he’ll come out, he’ll try to wrestle me, I’ll stuff all of his shots, and then eventually I’ll be able to catch him and probably take him out in that fight.”
Sandhagen is slated to meet Petr Yan at the end of October in an interim title fight. With the likes of José Aldo, Rob Font, and Dillashaw all on the come up at 135lbs., every fight in the stacked division is of great importance and the future looks bright for the division regardless of the messy title situation.
