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Cory Sandhagen dominates Marlon Moraes in the main event of UFC Fight Island 5
Cory Sandhagen had something to prove in the main event of UFC Fight Island 5. Sandhagen, who opened as an underdog to former UFC bantamweight title challenger Marlon Moraes, was the favorite on fight night. While the odds had changed, the fact remained that Sandhagen was coming off a first-round submission loss to Aljamain Sterling, a man Moraes had starched in 67 seconds in 2017. Sandhagen needed a win if he wanted to remain near the top of the 135-pound division.
Sandhagen got that win and more.
Sandhagen’s game plan was obvious from the start of the fight. He used his length and speed to keep Moraes at just enough of a distance so the former World Series of Fighting champion could not capitalize on his powerful kicks. Moraes landed a few of those kicks in the first round and those blows were noteworthy when they found the mark. However, Moraes only landed three of six attempted kicks in the first five minutes and his overall significant strike landing rate was an abysmal 25 percent. In comparison, Sandhagen landed his significant strikes at 45 percent in the first five minutes of the important bantamweight scrap.
If Sandhagen needed a boost in confidence, he found that in the first stanza. That confidence jumped a few notches early in the second round when Sandhagen could be heard to say he had broken Moraes’ orbital bone. Not long after that, Sandhagen unloaded a spinning wheel kick that caught Moraes on the head and sent him somersaulting backward toward the fence.
Before Moraes could get his wits about him, Sandhagen landed some ground strikes. Those blows brought an end to the fight at the 1:03 mark of the second round.
Sandhagen’s win should bring some clarity to the top of the bantamweight division. With the victory, the clear No. 1 contender for the 135-pound belt, which is currently in the possession of Petr Yan, is Sterling, who has been waiting to hear his name called as the next challenger for some time.
Below are the final stats from the matchup between Moraes and Sandhagen.