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Cory Sandhagen is open to moving up a weight class if it means he can finally get a rematch against Aljamain Sterling.
The 30-year-old was on a seven-fight winning streak that included finishes over his first three UFC opponents when he met Sterling at UFC 250 in 2020. Sandhagen ended up having that unbeaten run broken when “The Funk Master” submitted him just over a minute into the first round.
The win over Sandhagen was Sterling’s fifth in a row and earned him a shot at the bantamweight title against Petr Yan at UFC 259. The 33-year-old famously walked away with the belt after Yan illegally kneed him in the fourth round and was disqualified, which resulted in many fans questioning the legitimacy of Sterling’s status as champion.
Neither bout may have silenced all of his critics, but “The Funk Master” has now defended his title twice in a rematch with Yan and most recently when he stopped former champion T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280. Sterling has discussed the possibility of a future move to featherweight in order to clear the way for his friend and training partner Merab Dvalishvili, which is an idea that Sandhagen is apparently in support of.
“I’ll Probably Follow Him”
Even if Sandhagen isn’t convinced that Sterling will make the jump to 145 pounds, he respects the 33-year-old’s reasoning for it and would happily follow him there if it meant finally getting a rematch.
Sterling submitted Sandhagen in the first round at UFC 250. (Zuffa LLC)
“I think even if he does move up, I’ll probably follow him,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie. “I would really like to get that fight back, so maybe in the future that’ll happen. I actually really commend Aljamain on making a move like that. Whether he follows through with it is a different story, but I think that him doing that for his close buddy is something that says a lot about Aljamain and I really commend him on being that type of friend. Speaking about people caring about other people, I think that that’s really cool when you can also care about the people that you’re competing against to some level of degree, which I appreciate Aljamain doing. But like I said, we’ll see if he does it.”
Sandhagen rebounded from his loss to Sterling with back-to-back knockouts of Frankie Edgar and Marlon Moraes before losing decisions to Dillashaw and Yan in 2021. The fight with Yan was contested for the UFC’s interim bantamweight title, and Sandhagen reminded everyone with his most recent win against Song Yadong that he’s still very much in contention at the top of the bantamweight division.
The 30-year-old is scheduled to meet Marlon Vera in the main event of a UFC Fight Night next month, but even an impressive win for either man might not guarantee they’ll be next in line for the title.
What do you think of Sandhagen’s suggestion that he’d follow Sterling to featherweight in order to get a rematch with him?
Cory Sandhagen is open to moving up a weight class if it means he can finally get a rematch against Aljamain Sterling.
The 30-year-old was on a seven-fight winning streak that included finishes over his first three UFC opponents when he met Sterling at UFC 250 in 2020. Sandhagen ended up having that unbeaten run broken when “The Funk Master” submitted him just over a minute into the first round.
The win over Sandhagen was Sterling’s fifth in a row and earned him a shot at the bantamweight title against Petr Yan at UFC 259. The 33-year-old famously walked away with the belt after Yan illegally kneed him in the fourth round and was disqualified, which resulted in many fans questioning the legitimacy of Sterling’s status as champion.
Neither bout may have silenced all of his critics, but “The Funk Master” has now defended his title twice in a rematch with Yan and most recently when he stopped former champion T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280. Sterling has discussed the possibility of a future move to featherweight in order to clear the way for his friend and training partner Merab Dvalishvili, which is an idea that Sandhagen is apparently in support of.
“I’ll Probably Follow Him”
Even if Sandhagen isn’t convinced that Sterling will make the jump to 145 pounds, he respects the 33-year-old’s reasoning for it and would happily follow him there if it meant finally getting a rematch.
Sterling submitted Sandhagen in the first round at UFC 250. (Zuffa LLC)
“I think even if he does move up, I’ll probably follow him,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie. “I would really like to get that fight back, so maybe in the future that’ll happen. I actually really commend Aljamain on making a move like that. Whether he follows through with it is a different story, but I think that him doing that for his close buddy is something that says a lot about Aljamain and I really commend him on being that type of friend. Speaking about people caring about other people, I think that that’s really cool when you can also care about the people that you’re competing against to some level of degree, which I appreciate Aljamain doing. But like I said, we’ll see if he does it.”
Sandhagen rebounded from his loss to Sterling with back-to-back knockouts of Frankie Edgar and Marlon Moraes before losing decisions to Dillashaw and Yan in 2021. The fight with Yan was contested for the UFC’s interim bantamweight title, and Sandhagen reminded everyone with his most recent win against Song Yadong that he’s still very much in contention at the top of the bantamweight division.
The 30-year-old is scheduled to meet Marlon Vera in the main event of a UFC Fight Night next month, but even an impressive win for either man might not guarantee they’ll be next in line for the title.
What do you think of Sandhagen’s suggestion that he’d follow Sterling to featherweight in order to get a rematch with him?
Click here to view the article.
The 30-year-old was on a seven-fight winning streak that included finishes over his first three UFC opponents when he met Sterling at UFC 250 in 2020. Sandhagen ended up having that unbeaten run broken when “The Funk Master” submitted him just over a minute into the first round.
The win over Sandhagen was Sterling’s fifth in a row and earned him a shot at the bantamweight title against Petr Yan at UFC 259. The 33-year-old famously walked away with the belt after Yan illegally kneed him in the fourth round and was disqualified, which resulted in many fans questioning the legitimacy of Sterling’s status as champion.
Neither bout may have silenced all of his critics, but “The Funk Master” has now defended his title twice in a rematch with Yan and most recently when he stopped former champion T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280. Sterling has discussed the possibility of a future move to featherweight in order to clear the way for his friend and training partner Merab Dvalishvili, which is an idea that Sandhagen is apparently in support of.
“I’ll Probably Follow Him”
Even if Sandhagen isn’t convinced that Sterling will make the jump to 145 pounds, he respects the 33-year-old’s reasoning for it and would happily follow him there if it meant finally getting a rematch.
Sterling submitted Sandhagen in the first round at UFC 250. (Zuffa LLC)
“I think even if he does move up, I’ll probably follow him,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie. “I would really like to get that fight back, so maybe in the future that’ll happen. I actually really commend Aljamain on making a move like that. Whether he follows through with it is a different story, but I think that him doing that for his close buddy is something that says a lot about Aljamain and I really commend him on being that type of friend. Speaking about people caring about other people, I think that that’s really cool when you can also care about the people that you’re competing against to some level of degree, which I appreciate Aljamain doing. But like I said, we’ll see if he does it.”
Sandhagen rebounded from his loss to Sterling with back-to-back knockouts of Frankie Edgar and Marlon Moraes before losing decisions to Dillashaw and Yan in 2021. The fight with Yan was contested for the UFC’s interim bantamweight title, and Sandhagen reminded everyone with his most recent win against Song Yadong that he’s still very much in contention at the top of the bantamweight division.
The 30-year-old is scheduled to meet Marlon Vera in the main event of a UFC Fight Night next month, but even an impressive win for either man might not guarantee they’ll be next in line for the title.
What do you think of Sandhagen’s suggestion that he’d follow Sterling to featherweight in order to get a rematch with him?
Cory Sandhagen is open to moving up a weight class if it means he can finally get a rematch against Aljamain Sterling.
The 30-year-old was on a seven-fight winning streak that included finishes over his first three UFC opponents when he met Sterling at UFC 250 in 2020. Sandhagen ended up having that unbeaten run broken when “The Funk Master” submitted him just over a minute into the first round.
The win over Sandhagen was Sterling’s fifth in a row and earned him a shot at the bantamweight title against Petr Yan at UFC 259. The 33-year-old famously walked away with the belt after Yan illegally kneed him in the fourth round and was disqualified, which resulted in many fans questioning the legitimacy of Sterling’s status as champion.
Neither bout may have silenced all of his critics, but “The Funk Master” has now defended his title twice in a rematch with Yan and most recently when he stopped former champion T.J. Dillashaw at UFC 280. Sterling has discussed the possibility of a future move to featherweight in order to clear the way for his friend and training partner Merab Dvalishvili, which is an idea that Sandhagen is apparently in support of.
“I’ll Probably Follow Him”
Even if Sandhagen isn’t convinced that Sterling will make the jump to 145 pounds, he respects the 33-year-old’s reasoning for it and would happily follow him there if it meant finally getting a rematch.
“I think even if he does move up, I’ll probably follow him,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie. “I would really like to get that fight back, so maybe in the future that’ll happen. I actually really commend Aljamain on making a move like that. Whether he follows through with it is a different story, but I think that him doing that for his close buddy is something that says a lot about Aljamain and I really commend him on being that type of friend. Speaking about people caring about other people, I think that that’s really cool when you can also care about the people that you’re competing against to some level of degree, which I appreciate Aljamain doing. But like I said, we’ll see if he does it.”
Sandhagen rebounded from his loss to Sterling with back-to-back knockouts of Frankie Edgar and Marlon Moraes before losing decisions to Dillashaw and Yan in 2021. The fight with Yan was contested for the UFC’s interim bantamweight title, and Sandhagen reminded everyone with his most recent win against Song Yadong that he’s still very much in contention at the top of the bantamweight division.
The 30-year-old is scheduled to meet Marlon Vera in the main event of a UFC Fight Night next month, but even an impressive win for either man might not guarantee they’ll be next in line for the title.
What do you think of Sandhagen’s suggestion that he’d follow Sterling to featherweight in order to get a rematch with him?
Click here to view the article.
