Cory Sandhagen Dominates Marlon Vera, Calls Out Merab

Cory Sandhagen defeated Marlon Vera in the main event of Saturday’s UFC Fight Night in San Antonio. With this victory, Sandhagen stays in the elite echelon of the bantamweight division. At the same time, on the other side, Vera’s prospects for receiving a title shot are badly hurt, and he will have to earn a couple of more victories before getting an opportunity to win the belt.

After five rounds of good fighting, the judges scored in Sandhagen’s favor, but the decision was split. Two of them gave a clear edge to the Sandman, 50-45 and 49-46, while the third surprisingly awarded a win to Vera, 48-47.

All the analysts and most fans agreed that the American won this contest. The stats support that claim as well, with Vera hitting the rival 71 times, while on the other side, Sandhagen had 193, which is more than two and a half times as many.

” I took him down early and moved my ass around in [Rounds] 3, 4 and 5. That’s how you beat Chito. Chito is a good fighter,” stated Sandhagen following the event.

Cory Sandhagen wins. Very impressive. Not sure about that 48-47 but all good. I thought it was 49-46. Incredible showing from Sandhagen.

— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 26, 2023

The Sandman managed to take down Vera in an opening couple of rounds and utilize his domination while in a favorable position. Meanwhile, while being in the stand-up position, his versatile combinations have been deadly for Vera, who couldn’t stop the American from confidently collecting points.

We can’t say that the Ecuadorian didn’t have his moments. A couple of hard left hooks hit Sandhagen perfectly, but the American managed to eat them well and stay on his feet.

Vera tried to pump up the tempo in the final two rounds, but he couldn’t trim his deficit on the scorecards because Sandhagen flawlessly timed his action and used his movement to restrain Vera’s attacks.

The American called out Merab Dvalishvili following the battle. According to his words, it would be unfair to demand a title shot before clashing with the Georgian who recently defeated the former bantamweight champion, Petr Yan.

“I would feel so slimy if I asked for a title shot before Merab,” Sandhagen said. “Merab is an absolute animal. I respect him a ton. I want that No. 1 spot. Merab, you’re hungry, I got something for you to eat, and it don’t taste good.”

This was the fourth victory for the Sandman in the past seven bouts, with him losing to Aljamain Sterling via quick stoppage, Yan, who was much better, and TJ Dillashaw, after a controversial split decision. Many agree that the officials robbed Sandman.

Cory Sandhagen has a message for Merab Dvalishvili 🗣 #UFCSanAntonio pic.twitter.com/AUuZ60Lnbz

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 26, 2023

As for Vera, following four consecutive victories (Grant, Edgar, Font, and Cruz), this was his first defeat, the eighth in his MMA career. The rumors inside the UFC community suggested that he might receive the title shot in case of victory over Sandhagen. The bantamweight title clash is set for May 6, when Aljo faces the former two-belt champion, Henry Cejudo, and whoever won here, was supposed to battle with Vera.

Yet, that won’t happen.

In other fights of the night, Holly Holm was better than Yana Santos via unanimous decision. Though we have to say that both fighters were pretty close, yet Holm’s takedowns created the difference on the scorecards.

Nate Landwehr beat Austin Lingo via rear naked choke, while Albert Duraev beat Chidi Njokuani via split decision. The same happened with Maycee Barber, who was better than Andrea Lee.