Cory Sandhagen turned in a phenomenal performance before an injury to Deiveson Figueiredo caused an abrupt end to the UFC on ESPN 67 main event.
Cory Sandhagen put himself back in the UFC’s bantamweight title picture after causing an injury to Deiveson Figueiredo, and he wanted to be sure everyone knew the fight-ending sequence was no accident.
Sandhagen (18-5 MMA, 11-4 UFC) put a pace on Figueiredo (24-5-1 MMA, 13-5-1 UFC) that was tough to match. The bantamweight fight served as the main event of UFC on ESPN 67, which took place at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa. At 4:08 of Round 2, Figuredo tapped out due to a knee injury after a scramble for position on the ground.
After initial striking exchanges to start the fight, Sandhagen tested Figueiredo’s strength in the clinch. No takedown would come from the sequence, but Figueiredo landed a nice uppercut on the exit. A moment later, the pair clashed in the center of the cage, resulting in the fight hitting the mat. Figueiredo attacked with an ankle lock, but Sandhagen was able to defend and land hard punches to the head. Figueiredo didn’t give up on attacking the ankles, but he also continued to pay for it as Sandhagen landed more heavy ground and pound.
Sandhagen led the action in Round 2 with striking exchanges. Figueiredo would sneak in a solid counter, but his volume was outmatched. Sandhagen scored a clean takedown and went back to the ground and pound. Figueiredo once again threatened the ankles, which prompted Sandhagen to do the same as they scrambled for position.
In the fight for position, Sandhangen ended up on top, but in the process, caused an injury to Figueiredo’s left knee. Sandhagen rained in a few punches before Figueiredo tapped due to the injury.
During his post-fight interview, Sandhagen made sure it was known he caused the injury with his skills on the mat.
“It wasn’t a shame,” Sandhagen said. “If you don’t know how to play 50-50, your knee gets popped. It happened to T.J. (Dillashaw), it happened to Figgy. If you just don’t know how to play that position, you lose, and I’m better there. I put him there, I sat up, it popped, and that’s how it goes.”
Sandhagen, who entered the fight as the No. 4 promotionally ranked bantamweight, called for a title shot and even offered to be the backup and/or have the chance to fight the winner of the title rematch between Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley, which takes place at UFC 316 on June 7.
“I’ve dreamed of being a world champion for more than half of my life now,” Sandhagen said. “UFC, please give me an opportunity to show how great I am to the whole world, please.”
With the result, Sandhagen returns to the win column after a unanimous decision loss to Umar Nurmagomedov in August. That setback ended a three-fight streak of wins over Song Yadong, Marlon Vera and Rob Font. Figueriedo, a former UFC flyweight champion, was on a similar track over his last four fights, but walks away with his second consecutive loss.
Up-to-the-minute UFC on ESPN 67 results
- Cory Sandhagen def. Deiveson Figueiredo via TKO (injury) – Round 2, 4:08
- Reinier de Ridder def. Bo Nickal via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 1:53
- Daniel Rodriguez def. Santiago Ponzinibbio via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 1:12
- Montel Jackson def. Daniel Marcos via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Serhiy Sidey def. Cameron Smotherman via unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
- Mason Jones def. Jeremy Stephens via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
- Yana Santos def. Miesha Tate via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
- Azamat Bekoev def. Ryan Loder via TKO (punches) – Round 1, 2:44
- Gillian Robertson def. Marina Rodriguez via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:07
- Quang Le def. Gaston Bolanos via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 1:54
- Thomas Petersen def. Don’Tale Mayes via unanimous decision (30-25, 30-26, 30-26)
- Juliana Miller def. Ivana Petrovic via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
