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Marlon Vera headlines UFC Vegas 69 opposing fellow top five ranked Cory Sandhagen

It appears we have the return of no. 4 ranked UFC bantamweight contender Marlon Vera on tap, as he’s just been scheduled to headline UFC Vegas 69 against no. 5 ranked Cory Sandhagen. UFC Vegas 69 is to go down on February 18, 2023, live from the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada. Ecuadorian talent Marlon […]

It appears we have the return of no. 4 ranked UFC bantamweight contender Marlon Vera on tap, as he’s just been scheduled to headline UFC Vegas 69 against no. 5 ranked Cory Sandhagen.

UFC Vegas 69 is to go down on February 18, 2023, live from the UFC Apex in Enterprise, Nevada.

Ecuadorian talent Marlon Vera has been on a serious streak as of late, going 10-2 over his last 12 outings, as he comes into this bout on a four-fight win streak. Many believe he should be 11-1 in his last 12 as well, considering his unanimous decision defeat to Song Yadong was heavily disputed.

Nonetheless, following that defeat, he’d TKO Sean O’Malley, before losing to former featherweight champion Jose Aldo.

Since then however, Vera has defeated the likes of Davey Grant (UD) in their rematch to avenge his second promotional defeat, Frankie Edgar (KO), Rob Font (UD), and former bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz (KO).

Then we have Cory Sandhagen, a Colorado native that comes in having gone 3-3 over his last six, following a 5-0 start to his UFC tenure, though, like Vera, many believe he should be 4-2 in that time.

The fourth and fifth victories of Sandhagen’s UFC career came over longtime bantamweight staple Raphael Assuncao (UD) and current ONE bantamweight champion John Lineker (SD), before he was defeated by current UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling (RNC).

Sandhagen then knocked out both Marlon Moraes (TKO) and Frankie Edgar (KO), before losing back-to-back bouts to former champions Petr Yan (UD) in their interim title clash, and then TJ Dillashaw (SD), the latter being quite a controversial outcome.

Sandhagen would follow up those defeats with a doctor stoppage TKO victory over Song Yadong himself back in September.

Who do you see walking away from UFC Vegas 69’s main event the victor, Marlon Vera, or Cory Sandhagen?

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Mackenzie Dern Sends Message To Fans Following Loss

Mackenzie Dern sends an emotional message to fans following her main event loss to Yan Xiaonan via majority decision. Dern opened as a -185 favorite and closed closer to -300 against the Chinese standout. Some doubted Xiaonan’s untested five roun…

Continue Reading Mackenzie Dern Sends Message To Fans Following Loss at MMA News.

Brian Ortega Expects Slugfest In Main Event Bout With Chan Sung Jung

Brian Ortega caught up with MMAJunkie earlier today to talk about his upcoming fight with Chan Sung Jung. There is a lot to be talked about with these two, they certainly don’t think the world of one another. Ortega opened up on his incident at UFC 248 earlier this year with Jung and pop star […]

Ortega opened up on his incident at UFC 248 earlier this year with Jung and pop star Jay Park:

“I’m not personal at all. I had my moment, I handled my moment. I did what I did, and that was it. I don’t think about it too much, I don’t think about it on the daily, it doesn’t bother me. I don’t look at that as bad blood (or) anything.

“I’m just like, yo, like Logan Paul said man, even after I did my incident I walked past him, I was very calm. I’m the man, just talk shit get hit man. That’s where I come from.

The Diaz brothers aren’t the only people that’re from a city where if you’re acting a certain way you get slapped. And yeah, as much as you grow up and try to learn things to do better, sometimes it comes out, and it came out.”

He was then asked how he saw his upcoming fight with ‘Korean Zombie’ playing out:

“A slugfest, basically. Me and him kinda already have our thing where we wanna hit each other in the face. So, yeah, honestly I just see a slugfest. And some technical work but, yeah we kinda don’t like each other.”

This whole thing between ‘T-City’ and ‘Korean Zombie’ started when they were scheduled to face one another at UFC Busan last December, and they were nothing but respectful toward one another in the lead up.

Ortega pulled out of the fight citing a knee injury, and Jung ended up facing, and defeating Frankie Edgar instead.

Jung then accused Ortega of ducking him on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show, with the help of translator and friend Jay Park. ‘T-City’ didn’t take lightly to these comments, which led to him slapping Park at UFC 248 when they came face-to-face.

Luckily, these two are finally going to square off in the main event of UFC Fight Night 181, October 17. We get a potential five rounds of non-stop action between these two, and they’re two of the most entertaining fighters in the sport.

‘T-City’ hasn’t competed since his losing effort in a title shot against Max Holloway at UFC 231, that was back in December of 2018. ‘Korean Zombie’ last fought in December of 2019, but he’s proven he can compete at a very high level after time away.

Ortega has some of the very best BJJ in the entire sport, but also has good hands and is as tough as they come. Jung has some of the best boxing in the entire sport, with some good kicks and pretty wicked grappling of his own to go along with it. This is going to be a great fight!

Who do you see winning this epic featherweight main event?

Marlon Moraes vs. Cory Sandhagen Booked For October Main Event

It looks like we have quite the epic bantamweight main event coming later this year between a pair of former multiple-time kickboxing champions, as the No. 1 ranked UFC bantamweight contender Marlon Moraes takes on the No. 4 ranked Cory Sandhagen in a five-round main event this October. Combate initially broke the news earlier today, […]

Combate initially broke the news earlier today, and it will go down at UFC Fight Night 181, October 10. These two have both been nothing but astounding in their MMA and UFC careers. Moraes almost claimed bantamweight gold just over a year ago but fell short to Henry Cejudo after having one of the most dominant first rounds in the sport’s history.

Sandhagen had a No. 1 contender fight with Aljamain Sterling two months ago in June at UFC 250, a fight he lost in round one via submission (rear naked choke).

Dana White made it clear he didn’t know who was next in line for a shot at the UFC Bantamweight Championship, when everyone knows it’s Sterling, he’s the only guy that makes real sense.

Now that Moraes is booked, it looks like we may get to see Petr Yan fight Sterling next as well. There was some back-and-forth about that, considering Moraes KO’d Sterling in just 67 seconds in their fight back in December of 2017. However, he’s gone 5-0 since, while Moraes has gone 3-1 since, having already had a title shot, and having won a very controversial decision in one of those victories.

The 32-year-old, 23-6-1 Moraes has done just about everything you can do inside of an MMA career, aside from win UFC gold. He won the WSOF Bantamweight Championship and defended it five times, a promotional record. It should be six defenses really, but his opponent for his first title defense missed weight, thus making in a non-title fight.

He’s gone 5-2 in the UFC with wins over John Dodson (split decision), Aljamain Sterling (KO), Jimmie Rivera (KO), Raphael Assuncao (guillotine choke), and Jose Aldo (split decision).

The 28-year-old, 12-2 Sandhagen has gone 5-1 inside the octagon with wins over Austin Arnett (TKO), Iuri Alcantara (TKO), Mario Bautista (armbar), John Lineker (split decision), and Raphael Assuncao (unanimous decision). As you see, their UFC records are pretty similar. Take Moraes’ UFC debut out of the equation, and they’re identical, he did avenge that loss to Assuncao.

One thing to point out about this match up, being a main event, Moraes has gone five rounds just two times in his mixed martial arts career, while Sandhagen has yet to see a five round fight. With that being said, we haven’t really seen Sandhagen tire, and we certainly have seen Moraes tired.

What do you think of this insanely entertaining five round bantamweight main event between Marlon Moraes and Cory Sandhagen?

Robert Whittaker: ‘I’ve Been Hungry, That Break I Had Was Exactly What I Needed’

A five-round battle of former welterweights takes place this weekend at UFC on ESPN 14’s main event, as former UFC Middleweight Champion Robert ‘The Reaper’ Whittaker takes on former UFC welterweight title challenger Darren ‘The Gorilla’ Till, and he’s ready to make a statement. The Australian took a bit of a break after his failed title defense against Israel Adesanya at UFC 243, stating that he didn’t go to the gym or anything for some time following the fight. This lit a fire back in him, a ‘craving’ to get back in the gym and compete as he put it.

“It reached a point where it was like, nah, I have to get back to work, this is what I was meant to do. This is what I was put on this planet to do, I’m sure of it. Then I started speaking to the team, telling him (coach) how I feel, the problems that I had that led me here in the first place, and just that dialogue of communication, we worked out the best system and here I am, happy as Larry.”

He went on to say he’s very excited to be fighting in Abu Dhabi, stating that part of his pleasure of fighting for a living is that he gets to travel the world and fight in front of different crowds, experiencing a part of life most people can’t. It’s truly great to see ‘The Reaper’ have his desire to train and compete back, he isn’t burnt out anymore, and that’s absolutely huge. Whittaker is at his best when he’s having fun, as he stated. It’ll be very interesting to see himself and Till go at it.

Both of these men are two of the best strikers in the sport, and both are incredibly dangerous with their strikes. Some fighters are great strikers, but generally out-point their opponents, not these two. They’re both looking to take their opponents heads off the entire time. When asked why Till was the fight he wanted, ‘The Reaper’ responded, “it just looks fun”, stating that they’re both great strikers, and they’re both head hunters.

He was also asked what his biggest weapon he has to use against Till is, and what the biggest threat Till has to offer is: “His biggest threat is his left hand, he knows that as well. The thing is, that’s why I match up so much better against him than he does with me because my biggest threat, there’s too many of them. I have so many dangerous shots, I’m so creative, I have so many angles I can exploit. He’s got his left hand, that’s all he’s got.” (Transcribed by MMA Junkie)

Surely ‘The Gorilla’ has more tools than that, but ‘The Reaper’ isn’t entirely wrong, that is Till’s best strike. He went on to say it is a very dangerous strike that’s worked on many of Till’s past opponents, and that he needs to be aware of it and respect it.

Till just moved up to middleweight in his last fight against Kelvin Gastelum, who he defeated via split decision at UFC 244. Whittaker was slated to defend his title against Gastelum a little over a year ago, but was forced out with an abdomen injury. No one was giving Till a shot in that fight, but he pulled it off, and now we get to see the No. 1 ranked middleweight contender fight the No. 5 middleweight contender.

This is a great match up we’re all dying to see, who takes it? Robert Whittaker or Darren Till?

Al Iaquinta vs. Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone In the Works for UFC Ottawa Main Event

A pair of top 10 ranked lightweights are preparing to do battle as Al Iaquinta is expected to face Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in the main event at UFC Fight Night from Ottawa on May 4. Multiple sources close to the contest confirmed that verbal agreements…

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