Former referee John McCarthy explains why Cory Sandhagen might have won Round 5 against T.J. Dillashaw

T.J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen went to war in the main event of UFC Vegas 32 this past weekend.

In the end, it was Dillashaw who got his hand raised via a razor-sharp split decision. With the pair heading into the fifth and final round, two out of three judges had it 2-2 on their scorecards. The final round caused much debate and discussion.

The fifth round was also extremely close, but two out of three judges scored it in favor of Sandhagen. However, he still ended up losing the fight. That's because one of the two judges who scored the last round in his favor had already scored the fight 3-1 in favor of Dillashaw heading into the fifth.

In a recent episode of his podcast with Josh Thompson, former UFC referee John McCarthy said he felt Cory Sandhagen had won the fifth round. Having said that, McCarthy also understands why T.J. Dillashaw could have won it too.

How did you score the #UFCVegas32 main event?All three judges had it 29-28 to TJ Dillashaw after three rounds.Do you agree or disagree? pic.twitter.com/xGtjJgIuvD

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) July 25, 2021

According to McCarthy, the final round was so close that it all came down to who, according to the judges, landed the cleaner strikes in the round.

"Going into the fifth, it was a matter of who was going to get the fight and the judges gave it to T.J., you know, one giving it to Cory, two giving it to T.J. and a split decision. I had Cory winning the last round but it was just a matter of, you know, who you thought was landing the cleaner shots and he landed a couple of heavy shots. You know there were some things that happened in there and I thought he landed the better ones but I really give it to T.J. for the leg kicks that he threw throughout the fight. Really effective. He did a great job with those."

Despite his recent loss, Cory Sandhagen has been told he's still one fight away from a title shot

Cory Sandhagen put in a valiant effort at UFC Vegas 32. Although he lost, Sandhagen's efforts didn't go unnoticed. UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby has apparently reassured Cory Sandhagen that he just needs to win his next fight in order to earn himself a title shot.

"Sean Shelby just talked to me in the back. I made him pinky promise me that I'm still one fight away from the title," said Sandhagen in an interview with Megan Olivi following UFC Vegas 32.

"Sean Shelby just talked to me in the back. I made him pinky promise me that I'm still one fight away from the title." Cory Sandhagen wanted assurances after #UFCVegas32 😅 (via @MeganOlivi) pic.twitter.com/vbDjkpyZ2Y

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) July 25, 2021