Cory Sandhagen is only preparing to face the winner of Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling next.
Sandhagen earned arguably the biggest win of his career after knocking Frankie Edgar out in the first round of their UFC Vegas 18 co-main event clash with a flying knee.
It put him on a two-fight winning streak with seven wins in his last eight outings overall as he is more than likely to challenge for the title next.
That’s what he’s planning even with former champion TJ Dillashaw now eligible to compete.
“I’m a different monster than before I fought Aljamain Sterling,” Sandhagen said (via MMA Fighting). “He taught me some lessons. I know [Petr] Yan has been talking about fighting T.J. [Dillashaw] after [he fights Aljamain Sterling at UFC 259], and that’s if he even wins that fight. That’s garbage to me.
“Fight me, I’m the toughest guy next to Aljamain. If Aljamain wins, I owe him a nap. He’s gonna get that nap. The winner of those two gets knocked out by me in July.”
When asked to predict who comes out on top at UFC 259, Sandhagen edged towards Sterling which would be ideal for him as he gets to challenge for the title and get revenge in the process.
“Win the belt in July – defend it by the end of the year,” Sandhagen added.
As for his knockout over Edgar? Sandhagen’s height and reach advantages certainly help when it comes to landing those spectacular shots.
“I let him get a little closer,” Sandhagen explained. “I’m longer and I know that I appear long so I can kind of corral these guys into my range without them even knowing. Most of the time they’re in the range where I can hit them and sometimes I do.
“I just corral them into a range where I was able to hit him and he didn’t know that. He was just inches away from getting finished and then I just jumped.”
Should Sandhagen fight for the title? Or Dillashaw?