The bantamweight clash between former training partners is back on.
Cory Sandhagen will face the former UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw on July 24th to headline a UFC Fight Night card. The location and venue is unknown at this current time. The news was first broke by MMA Junkie.
The fight was originally scheduled for May 8th however Dillashaw was forced to withdraw after suffering a laceration above his eye less than two weeks out from the fight. #2 ranked bantamweight contender, Sandhagen was offered a replacement opponent in Pedro Munhoz but decided to reject the offer.
T.J. Dillashaw (16-4)
Dillashaw has not competed for two years due to his banning from the sport after being caught using performance enhancing drugs specifically EPO in his fight against Henry Cejudo back in January 2019. He was a given a two year ban and stripped of his UFC bantamweight belt. He has not fought since losing to Cejudo.
Prior to that bout, Dillashaw was considered one of the greatest UFC bantamweights of all time after becoming a two-time UFC bantamweight champion when he TKO’d Cody Garbrandt in 2017 to regain the belt that he had lost in a narrow decision loss to Dominick Cruz a year prior. He then went on to finish Garbrandt again in a rematch a year later to defend his belt.
A win against Sandhagen after two years out the octagon would put the former champion straight into the mix for a potential title shot.
Cory Sandhagen (14-2)
With a record of 14-2, Sandhagen is on a two-fight winning streak against Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar. Prior to the two wins, he lost to current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling in a title shot eliminator bout in June 2020 at UFC 250, his first and only loss in the UFC promotion. Since then, Sandhagen has proven that he is most worthy of a title shot with those two victories under his belt.
Many fans see Sandhagen as the next contender in line for a shot at the bantamweight title after finishing both Moraes and Edgar, not to mention both finishes worthy of a KO of the year. In a fight against Dillashaw, a two-time former UFC bantamweight champion, the winner would most certainly received a title shot and would be Sandhagen’s highest-profile victory to date.
Who do you see winning this high stakes bantamweight matchup?