"It's truly one of those fights that can blow the roof off of any building" - Daniel Cormier previews Petr Yan vs. Cory Sandhagen
Daniel Cormier believes that the interim UFC bantamweight title matchup between Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen has the potential to be a highly entertaining fight.
Previewing the UFC 267 fight on the official Daniel Cormier YouTube channel, the 42-year-old stated:
“And we had to sit on this (news) during the broadcast, when in reality, the whole time, you’re jittery thinking about a fight between Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen. Because it's truly one of those fights that can blow the roof off of any building that you compete in. Because in Petr Yan, you have one of the most, I mean, he’s meticulous in his approach. And he can break you down. We saw him break down Jose Aldo. The fight was competitive early. But as it went long, you saw Petr just continue to build and build and extend the lead on the great champion Jose Aldo.”
Daniel Cormier noted that Petr Yan also extended the lead against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259 and gradually broke his opponent. DC pointed out that Yan’s only mistake against Sterling was throwing an illegal knee that got him disqualified and cost him the title.
Cormier then turned his attention to Cory Sandhagen and said:
“After losing to TJ Dillashaw in a razor-close fight, you thought maybe it would take some time (to win the title). Cory said, ‘All I want is to be one fight away (from a UFC title shot). Guess what, my friend, you’re not even one fight away. He gets the title fight right now against Petr Yan.”
DC also explained that if Sandhagen defeats Yan, he will get the opportunity to avenge a previous loss to Aljamain Sterling in a rematch, this time with a UFC title on the line.
Petr Yan could reclaim his UFC title with wins over Cory Sandhagen and Aljamain Sterling
Petr Yan lost his UFC bantamweight title via DQ (Disqualification) in round four of his fight against Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259.
The Yan-Sterling rematch was initially set to take place at UFC 267. However, Sterling wasn’t medically cleared to compete at the event and had to pull out of the fight.
Petr Yan will now face Cory Sandhagen in an interim UFC bantamweight title fight at UFC 267 on October 30th, 2021.
If Yan manages to beat Sandhagen and capture the interim title, his next fight will be a title unification bout against Sterling. A win over Sterling would help Yan reclaim the coveted undisputed UFC bantamweight title.