Israel Adesanya breaks down Cory Sandhagen vs. T.J. Dillashaw
Reigning UFC middleweight king Israel Adesanya uploaded a video to his YouTube channel where he broke down the upcoming bantamweight clash between Cory Sandhagen and T.J. Dillashaw. The fight headlines UFC Vegas 32 this Saturday at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
While talking about their similarities and differences, Israel Adesanya highlighted what he believed to be the best tools in the arsenals of both fighters. Speaking about Cory Sandhagen, 'The Last Stylebender' said:
"The jab. The jab, beautiful. Cory for 135 is long and lean. He's very lanky for the weight class, so he knows how to pop that jab. The best display I've seen of him doing that was [against] John Lineker. Yeah, he was just educated with that jab. That jab had a real Master's degree in that fight."
Elaborating on Sandhagen's jab and its use in the upcoming fight, 'Izzy' said:
"He [Cory] was able to pop him [Lineker] at will, keep him at bay, and let him guess the jab was coming and then hit him with something else. It was nice... If you talk about Cory's jab, he's got that jab a lot... The height, the range, it's too much for T.J. to deal with if he's just trying to trade jab for jab with him."
Israel Adesanya went on to talk about Cory Sandhagen's footwork. He said:
"What I love about Cory is his movement is sick, like his in-and-out range. Almost karate-like sometimes. He just knows how to bounce. Another thing I give an advantage to in this fight for Cory is body shots. The man can find a liver, he's a butcher... Even he knows. He hurt Lineker with a body shot at one point and goes, 'Ah. I know.' Yeah that's sick."
Continuing about the sharp movement and creativity displayed by 'The Sandman' throughout his career, Israel Adesanya said:
"His level change for such a tall guy for the weight class... he's able to level change and hit the body shot without getting countered too often. Also, creativity. He'll throw s**t like a flying knee from a distance you wouldn't think he would land it from. Frankie Edgar, that one was prime. Frankie was foot down on the gas, putting the pressure on... He [Cory] didn't throw the knee where he [Frankie] was, but where he was going to be. That's creative."
Moving on to former bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, Israel Adesanya began by stating the obvious.
"We have to address the elephant in the room. This is his first fight back after being suspended for EPO. Honestly, I never thought he needed it... because he was such a good fighter, he was such a great, great fighter. Maybe the weight cut was too much for him [at 125], maybe his cardio or whatever, he felt like he had to do it. That's the elephant in the room, I've addressed it. He served his time, but there's always that asterisk." Israel Adesanya said.
Speaking on Dillashaw's offense, the UFC middleweight champion said:
"What I like about T.J. is his striking, to be honest, but that's not what he came up doing. He came up from Team Alpha Male as a wrestler and he's got that in his back pocket, but what really took him to the next level is his striking, and that's that Ludwig striking system."
Elaborating on what he meant by the 'Ludwig striking system', Israel Adesanya said:
"I feel like the way they operate, they really mix it up well. The way he throws his 2, his rear hand, and then the rear leg, the way they hide it is nice... He's nice with his hands and his feet. Another thing I like about T.J. is fighting in the fire. He's tough. I've seen him get dropped before and come back and do some work and finish the fight."
Israel Adesanya spoke about T.J. Dillashaw's movement, too. He said:
"T.J. is good at drop-shifting. He'll drop-shift, hit someone and get out of the way. He's also good at darts. He'll lean over, pump the rear hand, and be southpaw and counter them with a 2-3 or something crazy like that."
Stating how he envisioned the fight playing out, Israel Adesanya said:
"I feel like it's going to be a battle of the feet... but if someone's going to take it to the ground, T.J. will. He snuck it in there with the John Lineker fight, he was able to use that sneaky-a** takedown... He drop-shifts, then scoops the legs, body lock and takes them down."
"Once he gets that [takedown] established, I like when T.J. likes to fake the shot and then uppercut. Slick, and he catches a lot of people with that, 'cause they're already worried about the takedown." Israel Adesanya continued.
Giving his opinion on what he believed to be the key to victory for each fighter, the Nigerian native began with T.J. Dillashaw and said:
"Cory has that similar but different footwork like Dominick Cruz, so that might be a key to victory for T.J. Dillashaw. Throw the leg kicks early on, establish those, or set them up first. Go up top, bang low."
Highlighting Cory Sandhagen's key to victory, Israel Adesanya stated:
"[For] Cory, jab. Feel like his jab's going to be his saving grace in this fight. Distance, and the knees. Not flying knees, necessarily, but like elevated knees. I feel like he can catch T.J. when he's drop-shifting."
Watch Israel Adesanya's breakdown of Cory Sandhagen vs. T.J. Dillashaw below:
Israel Adesanya recapped the history between T.J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen
Obviously, 'The Last Stylebender' realized that the fight analysis wouldn't be complete without a history of the two fighters. Giving his viewers a quick recap of the same, Israel Adesanya started by saying:
"I really like the fight because I've trained with both guys. I've trained in the same facility as them when I was in Colorado," said lsrael Adesanya. "They have been former training partners, now turned foes," the UFC middleweight champion said.
Israel Adesanya touched upon the background story about how T.J. Dillashaw left Team Alpha Male to train with Duane Ludwig and thus, found himself training with Cory Sandhagen. 'Izzy' said:
"Dope story behind it. Quick background: Dillashaw came from TAM. After Urijah Faber lost to Renan Barao, they brought in Duane Ludwig maybe to help him [Faber] with his striking, and Dillashaw and Ludwig [hit it off]."
Israel Adesanya gave his opinion on T.J. Dillashaw leaving Team Alpha Male by saying:
"He (Dillashaw) did what was best for him and his career and moved on with Duane and ended up training with Cory along the way."
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