This past weekend at UFC Vegas 60, we saw a big time matchup in the bantamweight division. Top contenders Cory “The Sandman” Sandhagen (15-4) took on the surging Song Yadong (19-7-1) in the main event.
For Song Yadong, he was trying to continue his current winning streak while knocking off the best contender he’s faced. Meanwhile, Sandhagen was looking to snap a two-fight losing streak.
To this point, Sandhagen had only suffered three losses in the UFC. The losses came against Petr Yan, TJ Dillashaw, and Aljamain Sterling. So three of the last four undisputed bantamweight champions. He needed to defeat Song to keep his standing amongst the elite.
In the first half of the fight, Sandhagen was struggling a bit with the power and speed of Song. He kept trying to use his wrestling, but Song was doing a sensational job of stuffing his takedowns. That being said, Sandhagen was landing shots that did damage.
Particularlly a step-in elbow that sliced open the eye of Song. That elbow proved to be detremental to Song. After the fourth round, the damage on his eye became too much for the doctor to let the fight continue. The doctor called it off and Sandhagen got the TKO win at UFC Vegas 60.
What’s next after UFC Vegas 60?
This was a huge win for Cory Sandhagen in a very high pressure situation. He snapped his losing streak and once again showed that he’s one of the very best in the UFC. Now that he’s back on track in the win column, what’s next for him?
After the fight, he had one name on his mind and it’s the perfect choice. Sandhagen called for a fight with Chito Vera and honestly, that’s the perfect fight to make given where both men are in the division.
Sandhagen said that he wanted to fight around Christmas. Next month, TJ Dillashaw and Aljamain Sterling will fight for the bantamweight title. Petr Yan and Sean O’Malley are fighting on the main card of UFC 280 as well. I could see the winners of both fights paired up next.
Given the timeline, I would expect that fight in early 2023. Meanwhile, the promotion could pair up Sandhagen and Vera as a title eliminator at the end of the year. Whoever were to win that fight could be looking at a bantamweight title fight early next summer.