"We're holding on to old things" - Cory Sandhagen questions the judging criteria for UFC fights following controversial loss to T.J. Dillashaw
Cory Sandhagen believes control time should not be a deciding factor when it comes to judging fights in the UFC when no damage is being inflicted.
The 29-year-old suggested that wrestling-heavy determinants like control time are an "old way" of judging a fight, and something which shouldn't be an important factor in the UFC.
Sandhagen fought T.J. Dillashaw in the main event of UFC Vegas 32 last Saturday. Both men pushed each other to their limits, but it was Dillashaw who secured a narrow split decision win (47-48, 48-47, 48-47).
During his interview with Mortal Kombat's Luke Thomas, Cory Sandhagen called for the judging criteria for UFC fights to be amended.
"I grew up in the sport not being a wrestler and not fully understanding why we're still holding on to a lot of traditions from the sport of wrestling that don't make any sense in an actual fist fight, no holds barred type of rule set. I think we're holding on to old things and old ways of thinking... We need to let go of lot of the old ways of thinking of control and think of the fight as just strictly on who is hurting who more. That's what fighting is in my opinion. It is who is doing the more damage," said Cory Sandhagen.
Dillashaw controlled Sandhagen for a duration of 8 minutes and 22 seconds. However, he wasn't able to inflict significant damage on his counterpart, which according to Sandhagen, should have been an instrumental factor in the outcome of the fight.
Cory Sandhagen on why T.J. Dillashaw's control time didn't help him in the fight
Cory Sandhagen added that factors such as controlling opponents and ringmanship only matter in the sport of boxing and wrestling, not in MMA.
'The Sandman' said he understands the significance of controlling opponents against the cage, in the clinch, or on the ground, but that shouldn't be a decisive factor when no damage is being caused.
"I do agree that (T.J. Dillashaw's control time) is stopping me from being able to do what I'm doing but you're also not furthering yourself anywhere...as far as like being able to hurt me, being able to do any damage to me. So if it leads to something like that, then awesome, maybe the control time should stand for something," said Cory Sandhagen.
Sandhagen later argued that his defense of 17 takedown attempts in the fight essentially stopped Dillashaw from successfully executing his moves. Plus, it also helped him to continue fighting on his feet.