UFC bantamweight champion, Aljamain Sterling has a reason as to why TJ Dillashaw beat Cory Sandhagen.
In the main event of UFC Vegas 32, Sandhagen welcomed back Dillashaw to the Octagon after his two-year USADA suspension. It was an intriguing matchup as many were curious to see how the former champ would do.
Ultimately, it was a back-and-forth scrap but in the end, it was Dillashaw who got his hand raised. Yet, for Sterling, he believes Sandhagen won the overall fight due to the damage he did, but in terms of scoring an MMA fight, he says that is why Dillashaw won.
“The main takeaway of that fight for me was T.J. can still scrap. And the other difference was: T.J. won the contest, Sandhagen won the fight,” Sterling said to MMA Today on Sirius XM about the Dillashaw-Sandhagen fight. “I know the scar, the scar tissue that he had a previous cut, I’m not even talking about that. I’m just talking about landing the harder shots. Sandhagen did all the damage. Cory Sandhagen gave up his back, gave up position way too much.
“So if you’re gonna score control time with no damage over the guy who does more damage, then yeah, you won the MMA contest,” Sterling continued about the Dillashaw-Sandhagen fight. “But in terms of the fight, overall, from round to rounds, Sandhagen won the fight.”
There’s no question it was a super close fight that could’ve gone either way. However, even with the loss, Sandhagen still remains one win away from getting a title shot. As for Sterling, he is set to defend his title for the first time in a rematch against Petr Yan at UFC 267. If he wins, he would face TJ Dillashaw in what would be a very anticipated fight.
What do you make of Aljamain Sterling’s comments about TJ Dillashaw vs. Cory Sandhagen?
