Marlon Vera’s style of winning fights is not reliable
Cory Sandhagen is knocking on the door of another shot at UFC gold, but standing in his path is a fighter that hasn’t exactly impressed the former interim bantamweight title challenger.
The main event was UFC Fight Night 219 Sandhagen faces Marlon Vera at the UFC Apex Las Vegas. This key bantamweight bout is set for five rounds. The event will air on ESPN+ on Feb. 18.
Even though Vera is on a streak of four wins that includes stoppages of former UFC champions Frankie Edgar and Dominick Cruz, Sandhagen doesn’t believe his upcoming opponent’s approach to victory is sustainable.
“Not really, honestly,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie when asked if he was impressed by his winning streak. “I think the way that he’s been winning is not a reliable way to win. When I think about some of the best fighters in the world or what I foresee myself trying to become, which is the best fighter in the world, it doesn’t involve a lot of unreliable winning. It requires strategic beating them every time and only very reliable methods to win.
Whether that be like takedowns, whether that be just being a better kickboxer, whether that be submissions – whatever that is, I don’t think that it can be lose most of the fight and then catch the person in one of the later rounds. … I don’t think it’s going to work against me, and that’s kind of the way that I feel about his style.”
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Sandhagen cites Vera’s late surges against Rob Font, Cruz as the key to his victory. Sandhagen plans to take five rounds to show that he’s the better fighter, capable of winning a clean win with an effective strategy. He is aiming for his second straight victory following the September stoppage by Song Yadong.
Sandhagen has found it challenging to manage the UFC Apex’s small enclosure. Vera’s bout will be his fifth in the venue’s smaller enclosure. This naturally encourages action as there is not enough space for everyone to move around. It’s something that Sandhagen admits was a tough adjustment to deal with when he first fought in the smaller cage against current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling at UFC 250.
“I appreciate the challenge,” Sandhagen said. “I like the challenge of having to fight more. When there’s a smaller cage, there isn’t a lot of room to move around, which I’m OK with now, which was something that was challenging in the beginning, but now I’ve enjoyed having that challenge. I think that just being in a smaller cage and me having to fight a little bit more close and give them more opportunities has just made me a lot better of a fighter.”