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Cory Sandhagen feels like T.J. Dillashaw showed his true colors when he decided to carry a serious shoulder injury into his latest bantamweight title fight.
The 30-year-old previously fought Dillashaw when the pair served as the main event for a UFC Fight Night in 2021. That was Dillashaw’s first fight since 2019 after serving a two-year USADA suspension, but the former champion did enough to walk away with a split decision victory.
That win over Sandhagen prompted the UFC to book Dillashaw for a fight against UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling, which was a chance for the 36-year-old to claim UFC gold for a third time. Things didn’t exactly go according to plan at UFC 280, as a preexisting shoulder injury quickly flared up before Sterling stopped Dillashaw with strikes in the second round.
Dillashaw shared more details about the training injury following the fight and eventually announced his retirement, but Sandhagen told MMA Junkie that he thinks the former champion never should have stepped into the cage at UFC 280.
“I think it was – I don’t really know how to say this professionally, because I don’t like being like a very provocative guy,” Sandhagen said. “But, I think that was wrong of T.J. to do. I think that if your shoulder is coming out like multiple times, you can’t really expect that to not happen in the fight. You definitely should’ve pulled out of the fight and had someone else jump into that position. In my opinion, that would’ve been the gentleman’s thing to do.”
“I Don’t Judge Him For It”
Even though he’d likely have been on the shortlist of bantamweight contenders that could have stepped in for Dillashaw at UFC 280, Sandhagen also admits that he can at least somewhat understand the 36-year-old’s thought process.
“But I also understand that we’re a bunch of warriors and we don’t really care about each other’s lives and about each other’s feelings, or the livelihood of each other in some regard. Everybody definitely has their different scales of how much they care about the other humans that are in their division with them.
“But yeah, T.J. I suppose, showed that he doesn’t really care too much about the other people. Which is like I said fine, because I understand that what we’re doing is combatives. It’s not like, we’re not playing soccer or basketball or something. So, I get it, you know? I don’t judge him for it, but I do think it was not the coolest move.”
Dillashaw’s training injury resulted in a one-sided fight against Sterling. (USA TODAY Sports)
Despite suffering that close decision loss to Dillashaw in 2021, Sandhagen ended up challenging for UFC gold in his next bout. The 30-year-old stepped in for an injured Sterling to face Petr Yan at UFC 267 with the interim bantamweight title on the line, but Sandhagen once again dropped a decision for his second-straight loss.
Sandhagen snapped his losing run when he defeated rising contender Song Yadong last September, and he’s now slated to meet Marlon Vera in the main event of a UFC Fight Night next month.
“Chito” currently sits one spot above Sandhagen in the bantamweight rankings and is riding a four-fight win streak that includes finishes of former champions Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz.
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Cory Sandhagen feels like T.J. Dillashaw showed his true colors when he decided to carry a serious shoulder injury into his latest bantamweight title fight.
The 30-year-old previously fought Dillashaw when the pair served as the main event for a UFC Fight Night in 2021. That was Dillashaw’s first fight since 2019 after serving a two-year USADA suspension, but the former champion did enough to walk away with a split decision victory.
That win over Sandhagen prompted the UFC to book Dillashaw for a fight against UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling, which was a chance for the 36-year-old to claim UFC gold for a third time. Things didn’t exactly go according to plan at UFC 280, as a preexisting shoulder injury quickly flared up before Sterling stopped Dillashaw with strikes in the second round.
Dillashaw shared more details about the training injury following the fight and eventually announced his retirement, but Sandhagen told MMA Junkie that he thinks the former champion never should have stepped into the cage at UFC 280.
“I think it was – I don’t really know how to say this professionally, because I don’t like being like a very provocative guy,” Sandhagen said. “But, I think that was wrong of T.J. to do. I think that if your shoulder is coming out like multiple times, you can’t really expect that to not happen in the fight. You definitely should’ve pulled out of the fight and had someone else jump into that position. In my opinion, that would’ve been the gentleman’s thing to do.”
“I Don’t Judge Him For It”
Even though he’d likely have been on the shortlist of bantamweight contenders that could have stepped in for Dillashaw at UFC 280, Sandhagen also admits that he can at least somewhat understand the 36-year-old’s thought process.
“But I also understand that we’re a bunch of warriors and we don’t really care about each other’s lives and about each other’s feelings, or the livelihood of each other in some regard. Everybody definitely has their different scales of how much they care about the other humans that are in their division with them.
“But yeah, T.J. I suppose, showed that he doesn’t really care too much about the other people. Which is like I said fine, because I understand that what we’re doing is combatives. It’s not like, we’re not playing soccer or basketball or something. So, I get it, you know? I don’t judge him for it, but I do think it was not the coolest move.”
[/quote]
Dillashaw’s training injury resulted in a one-sided fight against Sterling. (USA TODAY Sports)
Despite suffering that close decision loss to Dillashaw in 2021, Sandhagen ended up challenging for UFC gold in his next bout. The 30-year-old stepped in for an injured Sterling to face Petr Yan at UFC 267 with the interim bantamweight title on the line, but Sandhagen once again dropped a decision for his second-straight loss.
Sandhagen snapped his losing run when he defeated rising contender Song Yadong last September, and he’s now slated to meet Marlon Vera in the main event of a UFC Fight Night next month.
“Chito” currently sits one spot above Sandhagen in the bantamweight rankings and is riding a four-fight win streak that includes finishes of former champions Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz.
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Click here to view the article.
The 30-year-old previously fought Dillashaw when the pair served as the main event for a UFC Fight Night in 2021. That was Dillashaw’s first fight since 2019 after serving a two-year USADA suspension, but the former champion did enough to walk away with a split decision victory.
That win over Sandhagen prompted the UFC to book Dillashaw for a fight against UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling, which was a chance for the 36-year-old to claim UFC gold for a third time. Things didn’t exactly go according to plan at UFC 280, as a preexisting shoulder injury quickly flared up before Sterling stopped Dillashaw with strikes in the second round.
Dillashaw shared more details about the training injury following the fight and eventually announced his retirement, but Sandhagen told MMA Junkie that he thinks the former champion never should have stepped into the cage at UFC 280.
“I think it was – I don’t really know how to say this professionally, because I don’t like being like a very provocative guy,” Sandhagen said. “But, I think that was wrong of T.J. to do. I think that if your shoulder is coming out like multiple times, you can’t really expect that to not happen in the fight. You definitely should’ve pulled out of the fight and had someone else jump into that position. In my opinion, that would’ve been the gentleman’s thing to do.”
“I Don’t Judge Him For It”
Even though he’d likely have been on the shortlist of bantamweight contenders that could have stepped in for Dillashaw at UFC 280, Sandhagen also admits that he can at least somewhat understand the 36-year-old’s thought process.
“But I also understand that we’re a bunch of warriors and we don’t really care about each other’s lives and about each other’s feelings, or the livelihood of each other in some regard. Everybody definitely has their different scales of how much they care about the other humans that are in their division with them.
“But yeah, T.J. I suppose, showed that he doesn’t really care too much about the other people. Which is like I said fine, because I understand that what we’re doing is combatives. It’s not like, we’re not playing soccer or basketball or something. So, I get it, you know? I don’t judge him for it, but I do think it was not the coolest move.”
Dillashaw’s training injury resulted in a one-sided fight against Sterling. (USA TODAY Sports)
Despite suffering that close decision loss to Dillashaw in 2021, Sandhagen ended up challenging for UFC gold in his next bout. The 30-year-old stepped in for an injured Sterling to face Petr Yan at UFC 267 with the interim bantamweight title on the line, but Sandhagen once again dropped a decision for his second-straight loss.
Sandhagen snapped his losing run when he defeated rising contender Song Yadong last September, and he’s now slated to meet Marlon Vera in the main event of a UFC Fight Night next month.
“Chito” currently sits one spot above Sandhagen in the bantamweight rankings and is riding a four-fight win streak that includes finishes of former champions Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz.
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Cory Sandhagen feels like T.J. Dillashaw showed his true colors when he decided to carry a serious shoulder injury into his latest bantamweight title fight.
The 30-year-old previously fought Dillashaw when the pair served as the main event for a UFC Fight Night in 2021. That was Dillashaw’s first fight since 2019 after serving a two-year USADA suspension, but the former champion did enough to walk away with a split decision victory.
That win over Sandhagen prompted the UFC to book Dillashaw for a fight against UFC Bantamweight Champion Aljamain Sterling, which was a chance for the 36-year-old to claim UFC gold for a third time. Things didn’t exactly go according to plan at UFC 280, as a preexisting shoulder injury quickly flared up before Sterling stopped Dillashaw with strikes in the second round.
Dillashaw shared more details about the training injury following the fight and eventually announced his retirement, but Sandhagen told MMA Junkie that he thinks the former champion never should have stepped into the cage at UFC 280.
“I think it was – I don’t really know how to say this professionally, because I don’t like being like a very provocative guy,” Sandhagen said. “But, I think that was wrong of T.J. to do. I think that if your shoulder is coming out like multiple times, you can’t really expect that to not happen in the fight. You definitely should’ve pulled out of the fight and had someone else jump into that position. In my opinion, that would’ve been the gentleman’s thing to do.”
“I Don’t Judge Him For It”
Even though he’d likely have been on the shortlist of bantamweight contenders that could have stepped in for Dillashaw at UFC 280, Sandhagen also admits that he can at least somewhat understand the 36-year-old’s thought process.
“But I also understand that we’re a bunch of warriors and we don’t really care about each other’s lives and about each other’s feelings, or the livelihood of each other in some regard. Everybody definitely has their different scales of how much they care about the other humans that are in their division with them.
“But yeah, T.J. I suppose, showed that he doesn’t really care too much about the other people. Which is like I said fine, because I understand that what we’re doing is combatives. It’s not like, we’re not playing soccer or basketball or something. So, I get it, you know? I don’t judge him for it, but I do think it was not the coolest move.”
[/quote]
Despite suffering that close decision loss to Dillashaw in 2021, Sandhagen ended up challenging for UFC gold in his next bout. The 30-year-old stepped in for an injured Sterling to face Petr Yan at UFC 267 with the interim bantamweight title on the line, but Sandhagen once again dropped a decision for his second-straight loss.
Sandhagen snapped his losing run when he defeated rising contender Song Yadong last September, and he’s now slated to meet Marlon Vera in the main event of a UFC Fight Night next month.
“Chito” currently sits one spot above Sandhagen in the bantamweight rankings and is riding a four-fight win streak that includes finishes of former champions Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz.
Please provide transcription credit with a link to this article if you use any of these quotes.
Click here to view the article.
