"Cory has kinda got that same rhythm"- Josh Thomson and 'Big' John McCarthy draw parallels between Cory Sandhagen's style and former champion T.J. Dillashaw
Cory Sandhagen recently defeated Song Yadong to re-enter the bantamweight title conversation. The No.4-ranked bantamweight drew comparisons to the No.2-ranked bantamweight T.J. Dillashaw following his performance.
The elbow that would end up winning Cory Sandhagen the fight.
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Cory Sandhagen was able to pull out a TKO victory at UFC Vegas 60 due to a doctors stoppage following the fourth round, as Song Yadong had a vicious cut above his left eye.
WEIGHING IN co-hosts Josh Thomson and John McCarthy discussed Sandhagen's performance, comparing him to two-time bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw. Dillashaw will once again compete for the bantamweight title at UFC 280 against reigning champ Aljamain Sterling.
John McCarthy began the conversation by noting a similarity between the two fighters, stating:
"Dillashaw is more - it's a back and forth switching from orthodox to southpaw, but there's a rhythm to it... There's a rhythm to the way T.J. kinda does it, and Cory's kinda got that same rhythm."
Josh Thomson continued the discussion by adding another similarity between the two bantamweight challengers:
"I looked at Cory Sandhagen last night, he reminded me a lot of what T.J. was doing. The way he was kinda crouching down a little bit, kinda moving his body side to side, when he came off the wall he'd switch his stance, hit the jab, he was being very creative. I don't think that he had switched that much before... I knew he switched stances but he was switching a lot last night. He was changing up a lot of what I felt like he had done."
Watch Josh Thomson and John McCarthy discuss Cory Sandhagen and T.J. Dillashaw below (starting at the 3:42 mark):
Cory Sandhagen shares high praise for his opponent
Following his victory over No.10-ranked bantamweight Song Yadong, Cory Sandhagen showered praise on his opponent. Sandhagen claimed that despite his ranking, Yadong hits harder than No.1-ranked bantamweight Petr Yan, stating:
"Song's a hell of a fighter. He hits a little harder than Yan to be honest... The fool hits hard so he was a tough opponent. I got the win. I got by a really tough guy who was down in the rankings, but honestly could very easily be top five. I'm happy about the win. I don't get to go home a loser so thank God."
Yadong shared that Sandhagen's elbow rendered him unable to see as the fight progressed.
So basically couldn’t see anything after the cut. Props to @corysandhagen land that elbow. It wasn’t my night but a good fight. I will be back soon. @ufc #UFCVegas60
After squeaking out a tough victory, Sandhagen called out No.3-ranked Merab Dvalishvili and No.5-ranked Marlon Vera, who had stated that he would be willing to fight whoever.
It is unlikely that the UFC will decide on Sandhagen's next opponent until after UFC 280, as the results of that card will likely determine the next bantamweight title fight.
Watch Cory Sandhagen's comments on Song Yadong's power below (starting at the 5:57 mark):