"Damage should always supersede everything" - Aljamain Sterling reviews T.J. Dillashaw vs. Cory Sandhagen
UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling weighed in on the recently concluded high-profile bantamweight matchup between Cory Sandhagen and T.J. Dillashaw. The fight headlined UFC Vegas 32 at UFC Apex last weekend.
T.J. Dillashaw was able to turn the tide in his favor as he made his comeback worthwhile with a huge victory. In a hard-fought battle, the 35-year-old secured a narrow split-decision victory (47-48, 48-47, 48-47) over Cory Sandhagen.
Cory Sandhagen started strong, using his exceptional footwork to keep T.J Dillashaw at bay. He landed some devastating strikes with great precision, including a flying-knee.
To T.J. Dillashaw's credit, he was able to absorb the damage and keep his wits about himself. 'Lieutenant Dan' employed an approach that featured quick bursts of accurate flurries and power-clinches to keep the fight under his control.
The decision-making was truly a difficult job. Aljamain Sterling believes he has the correct formula to judge such fights and to narrow down fallacies in judgment. Speaking about the fight in a video uploaded to his YouTube channel, Aljamain Sterling said:
"Great performance from T.J. Dillashaw. I think the fight is scored based on damage, in my opinion. Damage should always supersede everything. That should be the first scoring criteria. Next should be control time or [effective grappling]. But, MMA is such a unique sport. I think, the way you score things, depends on the fight. You understand the person's fight style and what they're trying to implement in the game. If they're using heavy footwork and they're hard to touch and you can't hit 'em, the other guy is walking forward and you say, 'Oh, he was pressing the action the entire time'. But, if the other guy is using beautiful footwork and you can't touch them, how is that a score against the person using the footwork?"
Sterling used the examples of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Floyd Mayweather to explain how great footwork should be taken into consideration as a huge defensive and offensive factor.
Aljamain Sterling picks his winner from Cory Sandhagen vs T.J. Dillashaw
Aljamain Sterling continued his break-down of the fight. Highlighting the importance of damage again, he said:
"It's a very difficult sport to score, but I think if you look at the damage, I think, I almost felt like Cory Sandhagen should have won. But, I knew after the fifth round, I was like, 'I think if the judges scored on control-time, they're gonna give it to T.J.'... because he had a couple of takedowns where he did no damage. In space, Cory's using great footwork. He does get taken down a bunch, but if you're taking him down and you're not doing anything with it..."
Do you agree with Aljamain Sterling's breakdown and review of Cory Sandhagen vs T.J. Dillashaw? Sound off in the comments section!