August 6, 2023 12: 00 am ET
If Cory Sandhagen required to work on his fumbling to win a title, he revealed that development Saturday.
It might not haveactually been the tune the fans in “Music City” desired to hear to close the night, however Sandhagen’s takedowns and leading control en path to a consentaneous choice provided him a safe win and kept him in the title mix. It likewise might not haveactually been what his manager desired to see. Social media reports throughout the headliner suggested UFC president Dana White left his cageside seat in the middle of the battle and didn’t come back.
Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) mainly outwrestled Rob Font (20-7 MMA, 10-6 UFC) on his method to a consentaneous choice in their 140-pound agreement weight bout, which was the UFC on ESPN 50 primary occasion at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tenn. The battle was 5 pounds up from bantamweight duetothefactthat Font took it on less than 3 weeks’ notification.
Sandhagen swept the judges’ scorecards for a trio of 50-45 ratings and his 3rd straight win and landed all 7 of his takedown efforts. Then he called for a title shot versus the winner of bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling and Sean O’Malley, who battle in 2 weeks in Boston.
“I desired to put a more amazing battle on. I’ve been dealing with a lot of elbow issues justrecently, and I believe I tore my tricep in the veryfirst round. … I’m a wrestler now, obviously. Sterling and O’Malley, I’ll see you people in Boston. I’ve got next.”
Sandhagen shot for a takedown about 15 seconds into the battle and got it. But he discovered himself in a bit of a precarious area when Font locked onto his neck for a guillotine choke effort. Sandhagen protected well, though, and when Font worked for a kimura a coupleof minutes lateron, it permitted him to roll his method off the canvas and back to his feet. But 2 minutes in, Sandhagen rapidly shot for another takedown, and he landed a strong best hand when Font attempted to get back to his feet. With 30 seconds left in the frame, Font captured a Sandhagen kick and utilized it for a takedown, though he didn’t do much with the position other than remind Sandhagen he was there for a battle.
The 2nd round was a dominant one for Sandhagen with a fast takedown, then top control throughout the frame. Font’s defense from his back was great adequate to keep Sandhagen from getting momentum towards a surface. All that was worth, though, was Font had to suffer the verysame predicament in the middle round. Sandhagen took him down a little later that round, however still included another more than 4 minutes of control time to his statistics. With a minute left, he landed some strong punches from up top. Font got back to his feet with 35 seconds left and had t