Cory Sandhagen snapped a two-fight losing skid with a fourth-round stoppage over Song Yadong at UFC Vegas 60 on Saturday night.
It was a bit win for ‘The Sandman’ after dropping back-to-back fights against T.J. Dillashaw and Petr Yan. The fight was stopped following the conclusion of the fourth round at the suggestion of the ringside doctor due to a large cut that had opened over the eye of Song earlier in the contest.
Following his win, Cory Sandhagen discussed his next potential bout during the post-fight press conference. There, Sandhagen called out two fighters, Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera and Merab Dvalishvili.
“Chito and Merab are the obvious names. Both of them pose very different challenges, two completely opposite fighters almost. I don’t really care man. Give me one of them for Christmas.”
During an appearance on Submission Radio, Vera was asked about his thoughts on Cory Sandhagen’s callout.
“Really, nothing. I’m like, you want it, f*ck, come and get it you know? Simple as that. I feel like he was, in my opinion, he was kind of like wasting a little bit of energy and crying about like, ‘Oh, I got left over. Blah, blah, blah. I’m fighting low in the rankings.’ I did the same thing my last fight. I didn’t complain, you know?”
Cory Sandhagen get the stoppage at the end of the fourth
Cory elbows a huge cut on Song Yadong’s eyebrow early in the fight!
He continues to work it and the fight gets stopped at the end of the fourth #UFCVegas60
— Combat Sports UK (@CombatSportsUK) September 18, 2022
‘Chito’ Vera Will Be Prepared for Cory Sandhagen
With Cory Sandhagen sitting in the No. 4 spot and ‘Chito’ Vera one spot up at No. 5, a fight between the two top-five contenders would make a lot of sense. Should the UFC deem that to be the next fight to make, ‘Chito’ will be more than prepared for ‘The Sandman’.
“Petr Yan got offered the same fight on the same day, August 13th and he declined it. They were like, ‘Yan declined the fight, do you want to fight Cruz?’ I said, ‘Sure, send the contract.’ Why waste time on, ‘Oh, I got left over and I want to fight for the belt. I want to fight ahead.’ We all want to fight ahead, but sometimes it is what it is. What is available. So, yeah, you know, if you want it, you can [come] get some. And if you don’t get it, somebody else [will] get it. It doesn’t matter. I’ll be prepared if it’s for him or somebody else, it’s on.
In August, Vera scored a highlight-reel head kick knockout of former two-time UFC champion Dominick Cruz in August. That extended Vera’s win streak to four, with victories over Davey Grant, Frankie Edgar, and Rob Font. ‘Chita’ is also the only man to defeat fan favorite Sean O’Malley, earning a first-round TKO over ‘Sugar’ at UFC 252.