Cory Sandhagen believes he is just one win away from a bantamweight title shot.
Sandhagen bounced back from his first-round submission defeat to Aljamain Sterling by emphatically finishing Marlon Moraes with a spinning heel kick in the second round of their UFC Fight Island 5 headliner last night.
That victory made it six wins in seven outings since debuting for the promotion and Sandhagen now believes there are only two opponents that make sense for him if Sterling is to get the next crack at Petr Yan.
“The only other guys who have an argument is TJ [Dillashaw] when he gets back in January and Frankie [Edgar],” Sandhagen said in his post-fight interview with Dan Hardy. “All the respect to both of those guys but I want that belt.
“Those are the only two guys ahead of me and then I want the winner of Yan vs. Sterling.”
What's next for the Colorado kid? ⛰
⌛️ @Cors_Life is here to stay at the top of the divison.
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Sandhagen vs. Dillashaw/Edgar To Get Next Title Shot?
Sterling certainly deserves to be facing Yan for the bantamweight title next.
And if that turns out to be the case, it could very well be possible that the winner of a Sandhagen fight against either Dillashaw or Edgar gets the next crack after.
Dillashaw, of course, is the former bantamweight champion who is suspended until January 2021 following a positive EPO test that saw him banned by USADA for two years. He likely would need no more than a win to get a chance to regain his title.
As for Edgar, he recently enjoyed a successful bantamweight debut following a closely-fought decision victory over longtime bantamweight contender Pedro Munhoz. Given his name value and former champion status, he, too, could get the next crack with a win over Sandhagen.
And of course, Sandhagen will be the most deserving if he is able to get a win against either veteran. As UFC president Dana White likes to say, we’ll just have to see how things play out in the coming weeks.
