Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov disagreed with the judges at UFC Vegas 32. He revealed what he thought about the main event fight between bantamweights Cory Sandhagen and T.J. Dillashaw.
The Russian fighter was tweeting about the entire event and said that he believed Sandhagen won three rounds, while Dillashaw won two. In the end, it was a split decision win for the former champion. Two judges gave the fight to Dillashaw with a score of 48-47, while one gave it to Sandhagen with the same score.
Khabib Nurmagomedov believes Cory Sandhagen won the fight because of the damage he inflicted. 'The Eagle' wrote on Twitter:
"I think Sandhagen 3:2. Because of damage," Khabib said.
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However, it was as close a fight as it could have been. Sandhagen seemed to get the better of the striking exchanges while Dillashaw was dominating the clinch and on the ground.
Cory Sandhagen did sustain minimal damage throughout the fight and always got away from most of Dillashaw's power strikes. On the other hand, Dillashaw had a massive cut above his right eye, which required a doctor to come in and check.
However in the end, while Dillashaw gets closer to his dream of getting a title shot again, Sandhagen has nothing to hang his head about. Just take Khabib Nurmagomedov's word for it.
Khabib Nurmagomedov talks up Cory Sandhagen after his loss to T.J. Dillashaw
'The Eagle' is a fan of the young bantamweight as he took to Twitter to talk about Sandhagen's skills. He tweeted once more after giving his thoughts on the result, saying that Sandhagen was the real deal.
"But anyway Sanhagen is a real deal. He is a problem for anyone in division," he said.
It's not clear who Cory Sandhagen will fight next as he is one of the best fighters in the division. A possible candidate could be a match between the loser of the title fight between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling. Sandhagen has fought and lost to Sterling once before and he will be looking to get that loss back.
At the very least, he does have Khabib Nurmagomedov's stamp of approval.