Cory Sandhagen

Marlon Vera was unable to claim a championship and fell by split decision to Cory Sandhagen at UFC Fight Night 2023.

The kick-off is scheduled at 20:00 pm ET. Uruguay: 9:00 PM on UFC Fight Night Paraguay: 9:00 PM on UFC Fight Night Chile: 9:00 PM on UFC Fight Night Brazil: 9:00 PM on UFC Fight Night Argentina: 9:00 PM on UFC Fight Night

Sandhagen and Holm put on dominant performances in San Antonio. Are they due title fights in 2023? Our crew breaks down the best of Saturday's action.

She doesn't have time to sit back and wait for the right opportunity. [Cory Sandhagen](http://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/4294504/cory-sandhagen) a future UFC bantamweight champion. Holm needs to keep moving upward, building toward a return to the glorious heights she once saw. Holm, a former UFC bantamweight champion, said after the fight that she's sticking around to compete for a title. If we're ever going to see a shiny belt wrapped around Holm's waist again, we'll have to see her back inside the cage soon. Best known for her boxing prowess -- she was a 2022 inductee into the International Boxing Hall of Fame -- Holm scored four takedowns, her most ever in a three-round fight. He was not that on Saturday -- and that evolution has allowed him to climb this minefield of a division once again. Pineda got back to his winning ways with a nasty guillotine choke on Lutz. But where he lost the fight, at least in the eyes of two judges, was clear: Dillashaw was able to muscle him in the clinch and the wrestling aspects of MMA. "Chito" didn't seem ready for this version of Sandhagen, who could have been labeled a finesse fighter earlier in his career. Sandhagen dominated the incredibly game Marlon "Chito" Vera for a split decision victory in the main event of UFC San Antonio. That was not necessarily the case.

Check out the official scorecard for the Cory Sandhagen vs. Marlon Vera bantamweight contenders' bout at UFC San Antonio.

He lost his past two decisions, an interim championship fight loss to [Petr Yan](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/4437/petr-yan) and a controversial split call against [T.J. Let us know your thoughts in the poll and comments below. [Jose Aldo](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/7/jose-aldo) in December 2020. Dillashaw](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/1257/t-j-dillashaw). [UFC 241](https://www.mmafighting.com/fight-card/1044/ufc-241) in August 2019, where he earned a unanimous nod over [Raphael Assuncao](https://www.mmafighting.com/fighter/230/raphael-assuncao). The dissenting judge was Joel Ojeda, who had it 48-47 in favor of Vera.

This weekend's bantamweight bout between Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen is shaping up to be a classic. Both fighters are coming off impressive victories ...

While this is the case, being fully willing to lose the output battle round over round is a dangerous tactic given if he cannot find that round-ending blow, he will begin to get behind on the scorecards, thus making him a very difficult fighter to project, similar to that of heavy-handed heavyweights. This ability to find a finish on the mat is extremely important given it gives pause to his opponent with thinking about taking Vera to the mat. Where Marlon Vera gets the deserving respect of being one of, if not, the most threatening strikers in the bantamweight division, Cory Sandhagen falls through the cracks in this discussion even though he has finished 6 of his 8 UFC wins, with KO and submission victories mixed in. Meanwhile, Sandhagen has all the tools you want when betting on a fighter, except for the most important, that is, the ability to win close fights. Moreover, his solid grappling allows him to stuff 68% of takedowns, in turn, keep the fight standing for him to find a powerful blow. The difference, as touched on before is he covers his bases and wins the fight up to that point. To justify this statement, watching his 2-0 2022 campaign would be only needed, as he significantly damaged Rob Font round after round for the full 25-minute duration and KO’d Dominick Cruz in the 4th round of their fight. Because I see the fight as so even, with a slight edge to Vera on the mat, I like the value on Chito as the underdog. Sandhagen maintains a high output with his jab, forcing his opponents to either move in and eat a pull counter, or cover up and eat a follow-up right hook or left hook to the body, low kick. Then, when the opportunity opens, Sandhagen will start to be more aggressive with his striking and movement as he looks to pressure his opponent back into the cage. On the flip side, for those who push back point out, more than not, Vera is able to find that finish, and he does so because he fights without that point style. Vera is known for his striking ability and has been working to improve his grappling game.

UFC Fight Night: Vera vs. Sandhagen took place March 25 at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. UFC bantamweight contenders Marlon Vera (20-8-1) and Cory ...

Vera explodes forward with a flurry but misses. Vera catches a kick then finds a home for a nasty elbow. Sandhagen nails him with a left to the body. Three minutes for Vera to find a Hail Mary. Vera is getting frustrated with all this movement — he raising his hands up and calls for Sandhagen to brawl. Sandhagen pumps his jump then cracks Vera with a right hand. Sandhagen spins and misses with a kick. Vera attempts to scramble out but Sandhagen sticks to him like glue. Vera wades forward with a combination but misses. Vera misses with a spinning back kick at the horn. Vera goes low with a powerful kick. Sandhagen closes the gap and drags Vera to the floor, then starts unloading punches and elbows from top position.

A bantamweight match between No. 3 ranked Marlon Vera and No. 5 ranked Cory Sandhagen headlined Saturday's UFC San Antonio fight card in Texas.

Vera connected with a combination. Sandhagen answered with a combination. Sandhagen landed a combination. Sandhagen continued to pressure Vera in the second round. Sandhagen pressured Vera before looking to get the fight to the ground. Vera opened up a cut on Sandhagen with an elbow from the bottom, but the opening round was all Sandhagen.

Despite ending in a split decision, Cory Sandhagen dominated Marlon Vera through five rounds in Saturday's UFC Fight Night main event in San Antonio.

[Aljamain Sterling](https://www.espn.com/mma/fighter/_/id/3031559/aljamain-sterling) in 2020, in a result that was legitimate but also unlikely to be duplicated. Dvalishvili should be available in the meantime, as he has said he does not intend to fight Sterling at any time because they are teammates. Vera is known as one of the most dangerous knockout artists in the division, but Sandhagen more than held his own on the feet. "[The strategy was to] win the early rounds and then know he was going to come at me," Sandhagen said. He took Vera down in the first and second rounds and racked up offense with elbows from top position. According to UFC Stats, he out-landed Vera in total strikes 193 to 71 and converted three takedowns.

Sandhagen landed 187 total strikes to Vera's 73 in taking two of the cards, 50-45 and 49-46. One judge gave the fight to Vera, 48-47. ADVERTISEMENT.

“I knew that was going to happen. So, I took him down early and moved my ass around in [Rounds] 3, 4 and 5. “[The strategy was to] win the early rounds and then know he was going to come at me,” Sandhagen said.

In the main event of the night, world No.3 Marlon Vera was defeated by world No.5 Cory Sandhagen by split decision.

In the main event, Alex Pereira is scheduled to defend his middleweight title against Israel Adesanya. Holm won by 30-26, 30-27, 30-27 at the end of three rounds. In the main event of the night, world No.3 Marlon Vera was defeated by world No.5 Cory Sandhagen by split decision.

Definitely knew that I had the first two. So yeah, [the split decision was] confusing, but that's the sport of MMA. Until the rules get fixed, it's just going ...

Like I said, I don’t want to just be like the cherry-pick guy. The guy’s on like a nine-fight win streak — who am I to ask for a title before him? “He’s going to make me train really hard because of how good he is, and those are the types of guys that I want to fight. I don’t want to be that guy. I don’t want to cherry-pick my fights all the way to the top. And I think that I fought almost a perfect fight for fighting that type of opponent.” I want to fight the best guys, so that when I do get the title, I can defend it because I’m experienced. I want to inspire people. “I don’t want to shy away from challenges. “I thought that I was winning most of those rounds. “I think I did exactly what I have to do,” Sandhagen said. Maybe the third, I was like, ‘Eh, you know, that was maybe a little bit close,’ but I thought that I was bagging the other ones.

Two of the judges had it 50-45 and 49-46 for Sandhagen, while Joel Ojeda had one of the worst scorecards ever and had it 48-47 for Vera.

In the joint-main event, Holly Holm's ground game proved too much for Yana Santos in the women's bantamweight clash. The veteran former champion won by a ...

However, he rallied towards the end of the fourth. Mixed Martial Arts

Twitter had a lot to say following Cory Sandhagen's victory over Marlon Vera at UFC San Antonio.

If that doesn’t tell you judging needs fixed I don’t know why to tell you— Matt Brown (@IamTheImmortal) That was a 5 round beating! With both bantamweights coming off violent finishes in their previous fights, it was a battle to determine who would cement themselves on the short list for a 135-pound title shot.