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](http://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.
Cory Sandhagen gave Marlon Vera more than he could handle in the main event of UFC Fight Night in San Antonio. Sandhagen presented a puzzle that Vera simply ...
The amount of time both fighters spent on the feet in the early portions of the fight stripped Vera of the opportunity to gather crucial intel for the later rounds. I have a line that's a little embarrassing." Cory Sandhagen gave Marlon Vera more than he could handle in the main event of UFC Fight Night in San Antonio.
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.
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 โ 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.
See The Fight Results As They Happen, Watch Post-Fight Interviews With The Winners And More From The AT&T Center In San Antonio, Texas.
[Official Scorecards](https://www.ufc.com/news/official-judges-scorecards-ufc-fight-night-vera-vs-sandhagen) [UFC Fight Night: Vera vs Sandhagen](/event/ufc-fight-night-march-25-2023) took place live from the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas on March 25, 2023. [former interim title challenger](/athlete/cory-sandhagen) came out of the gates quickly, dominating the the first two rounds by putting Vera on the canvas and roughing him up from top position. This was a complete and impressive effort from Holm, who remains one of the top contenders in the 135-pound weight class. [Landwehr](/athlete/nate-landwehr) started to turn up the pressure in the second, building momentum as he recognized Lingo starting to wilt from some of his shots. [Barber](/athlete/maycee-barber) landed the heavier blows, while Lee held her own on the feet, scored takedowns, and worked from top position, giving the judges plenty to consider. When the scores were totalled, Duraev came out on top, earning the split decision victory. Pineda now has 28 career wins and each and every one of them have come inside the distance, which is an incredible achievement. After missing on a couple earlier submission attempts, the veteran Pineda finally locked onto a guillotine choke, squeezing out a tap from After losing his debut on short notice to fellow Brazilian Joanderson Brito, this was a much more representative effort of what to expect from the 27-year-old Alexander going forward. Peterson showed his trademark toughness by hanging in and continuing to press forward, but Alexander was simply the better man. That scenario repeated itself throughout the contest, as Giles was able to land the more telling blows and instantly work his way back to his feet without taking much damage on the canvas. [Lacerda](/athlete/daniel-lacerda) suffers a fourth consecutive stoppage loss in the UFC.
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