Exclusive: Mario Bautista addresses potential Cory Sandhagen rematch, shares ideal return timeline
Mario Bautista recently weighed in on a potential rematch with Cory Sandhagen and discussed the optimal timeline for his comeback to the octagon. Bautista achieved the most crucial victory of his career to date, earning a split decision over Jose Aldo at UFC 307, which was held last weekend at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Following his victory, Bautista broke into the top 10 rankings of the bantamweight division and is now eager to compete against opponents ranked above him. During an exclusive interview with James Lynch for Sportskeeda MMA, Bautista was asked about the possibility of a rematch with Sandhagen, who recently lost to Umar Nurmagomedov in August.
The 31-year-old Nevada native didn’t outright dismiss the potential matchup but expressed a preference for facing someone coming off a victory:
"At this point, I don't care—whoever is above me, I'll take whoever. But I was talking to my coaches and people at the UFC staff, and they were saying that, yeah, Cory would be a good fight, but he is coming off a loss. I'm on seven in a row, so I think people kind of want to see me fight someone that's coming off a win or someone similar in my position. So, I don't know. We'll see."
Bautista further disclosed that he plans to enter a fight camp later this year, aiming for a comeback in early 2025:
"I'm thinking that maybe early next year I could be in a camp by the end of this year, and then perhaps in February or March, somewhere around there, I can get the year started off early."
Check out Mario Bautista's comments below (11:04):
Bautista faced Sandhagen on short notice in January 2019 for his UFC debut, but the fight did not unfold as he had hoped, resulting in a submission loss in the first round.
Mario Bautista reflects on criticism after his win over Jose Aldo at UFC 307
In the same interview with Sportskeeda MMA, Mario Bautista discussed the intense criticism he faced regarding his performance following his victory over Jose Aldo at UFC 307:
"It ranges, you know, from 'oh, you lost me money.' It gets pretty bad, bro, I'm not going to lie. Like there are some fans, quite a bit, saying things like 'oh, you should just off yourself, you need to go kill yourself,' this and that. They get pretty crazy, so it ranges from that to, you know, 'congratulations, I thought you did a great job, like you won that fight, don't listen to these guys.' So, from there to that and everything in between." [4:31]
Although the match featured some exciting moments, much of the action was perceived as dull, with Bautista frequently clinching Aldo against the cage to exert control over the fight. Many fans believed that the UFC Hall of Famer deserved to be awarded the victory.