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Aljamain Sterling, the current UFC Bantamweight Champion, provided his breakdown of a possible UFC bantamweight title eliminator fight between Cory Sandhagen and TJ Dillashaw. Sterling acknowledged it as an interesting matchup and asserted that Sandhagen is likely to win it.
Cory Sandhagen’s last fight was a first-round KO win over Frankie Edgar in February 2021. On the other hand, TJ Dillashaw’s last fight was a first-round TKO loss against Henry Cejudo on January 19th, 2019.
TJ Dillashaw also failed his pre and post-fight drug tests regarding his fight against Cejudo. Dillashaw tested positive for the illegal PED, EPO, and served a two-year suspension. On January 19th, 2021, the former UFC Bantamweight Champion became eligible to resume his professional MMA career.
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The consensus in the MMA community is that a potential No. 1 contender’s fight between Cory Sandhagen and TJ Dillashaw could take place later this year. Speaking to Helen Yee Sports, Aljamain Sterling addressed the Sandhagen-Dillashaw matchup and stated:
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“I’m glad they actually got that booked because I do think TJ running his mouth abut an Oscar award for me – like, I don’t think you could fake a knee like that – But I know one thing you can’t fake is putting freakin’ needles up your a** and injecting yourself with EPO and all those (things) he’s taken in the past. So, his whole career is tainted to me. People only know him because of the stuff he’s done, but everything he’s done has been juiced up. You know, so, I’m interested to see how he looks coming back from everything and if he’s actually, like legitimately, doing it the proper way and trying to compete clean.”
“So, I think it’s gonna be a very competitive fight, in the sense that they’re familiar with each other because they’ve trained before together in the past. But I think Cory’s got the tall frame. I think he knows TJ’s style. I think he does TJ’s style just a little bit better. And the only difference I could see is probably the wrestling. But TJ uses wrestling to take you down. He doesn’t utilize as much ground and pound. So, I think it’d be primarily a stand-up affair. And if it stays standing, Cory’s just too long, you know. That’s why I knew, for me, I had to get that guy down right away. So, it’s an interesting fight, but I would pick Sandhagen. He’s been looking like a monster lately.” (*H/T Sportskeeda for the transcription)
Aljamain Sterling has fought Cory Sandhagen before, defeating 'The Sandman' via first-round submission in June 2020.
Aljamain Sterling vs. Petr Yan 2 and Cory Sandhagen vs. TJ Dillashaw are two pivotal bantamweight matchups that are likely to take place this year
Aljamain Sterling defeated Petr Yan via DQ (disqualification) in their UFC bantamweight title fight at UFC 259 (March 6th, 2021). Sterling was hit by an illegal knee in the fight causing Yan to be disqualified. This, in turn, made Aljamain Sterling the new champion.
UFC President Dana White has suggested that the promotion is aiming to book an immediate rematch between Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan that’ll take place later this year. Meanwhile, the Cory Sandhagen vs. TJ Dillashaw matchup hasn’t been officially confirmed yet, but the belief is that it will also come to fruition later this year.
TJ Dillashaw and some of Aljamain Sterling’s other rivals have accused 'The Funk Master' of acting more hurt than he was to get Petr Yan disqualified. Sterling, on his part, has strongly emphasized that he was legitimately hurt and he isn’t someone who’d resort to such measures to win the title.
