While the main event was such a feel good story with Glover Teixeira capturing his first UFC championship at 42 years old, the co-main event between Cory Sandhagen and Petr Yan for the interim bantamweight championship was the best fight we saw last Saturday. While Yan got the 49-46 decision, it wasn't like he completely dominated Sandhagen for the most part. He just did enough in each round after the first to make it clear that he had won the round and thus the fight with little controversy. He also came the closest to finishing the fight when he landed a spinning back fist in the third round that dropped Sandhagen. I did pick against Yan and while that was mostly due to my fandom of Sandhagen, I did have some questions about Yan and he made me look a little silly. Yan really got the better of Sandhagen in this fight and, as has become customary in his fights, Yan appeared to get stronger as the fight progressed. I was surprised to see that Sandhagen was the one tiring faster, but he did take the fight on short notice and was also absorbing the harder shots, so I guess it really isn't that shocking in retrospect.
After the fight, I was honestly just really impressed with Yan. Maybe I'm just late to the party, but I am officially ready to say that Yan is the best in the division right now. I have a significantly higher opinion of him after this win, easily the best of his career. The next logical step will be the title unification bout and rematch with current champion Aljamain Sterling. To me, this is really the only fight to make for Yan. To have him defend the interim belt would be a little odd in general, but given the circumstances between Yan and Sterling, that is a fight we need to see regardless of title implications. There is one main hurdle with this fight, which is Sterling's health. The only reason we haven't seen the rematch already is because Sterling underwent neck surgery after the illegal knee Yan delivered in their fight last March. Assuming Sterling is cleared to fight, I don't see how this fight doesn't happen in the first quarter of 2022. If for whatever reason Sterling isn't cleared to fight at all or if he just can't return on the timeline that the UFC wanted, who could they turn to? The obvious answer here is TJ Dillashaw. Had he not injured his knee in his split decision win over Sandhagen in July, he would have likely gotten the first call to be the replacement for this past week. I'm not sure on the timeline for his recovery from his surgery, but I think he will get the title shot that follows the Sterling vs Yan rematch. I guess there is a scenario where Sterling isn't cleared and Dillashaw can't return from surgery fast enough in which case the winner of the Rob Font vs Jose Aldo main event on December 4th would get that opportunity, but that seems highly unlikely, especially with Yan taking longer between fights that some other champions.
While it seems like Yan has a clear pecking order in who will be next for him, Sandhagen doesn't really have as obvious a route. Sandhagen has already fought a lot of the guys in the top 5 at bantamweight, so a lot of those would be rematches for him. The UFC doesn't do a lot of rematches in non-title fights (other than fights that are just for fun like Diaz vs Lawler 2), but they might not have a choice with Sandhagen. The highest ranked fighter he hasn't already fought (other than Font and Aldo who are already booked for each other) is Merab Dvalishvili. I think that fight would be great and a lot of fun, but I'm not sure the UFC would want to potentially stunt the growth of either guy if they don't have to. Anyone lower than that is either already booked (Munhoz vs Cruz on the horizon, Garbrandt vs Kara France), already fought Sandhagen (Marlon Moraes), or both (Frankie Edgar). After that, you're out of the top 10 and I don't think they would drop Sandhagen down that low because despite consecutive losses, I don't think he's lost any stock. I think the loser of the Font vs Aldo fight would be a really good option for him. That way, both guys are coming off of a loss, which we know the UFC likes to do, but is still a really big fight. Maybe if Marlon Vera gets a win over Frankie Edgar then he becomes an option? That might be a little bit of a stretch. As I've worked on this post, I've come to realize that this is a lot harder than I originally thought because so much of this is dependent on health, which we just don't know. Both Aljo and Dillashaw need to get healthy before there is a clear direction on where we can go. If it were up to me, I think Sandhagen vs the Font/Aldo loser would be my first choice. That gives Sandhagen some time to rest after two really tough fights in a row with the second being on short notice. It also gives him a chance to reset against someone who will be in a similar spot as him, coming off of a loss. However, I don't want to rob Merab of the opportunity that he's earned. I'm not sure how well it would go over in negotiations, but I would really try to make the fight between Merab and Dillashaw and try to put it on the same timeline as Yan vs Sterling 2 as to make it a clear number one contender's fight. I guess that leaves out the Font vs Aldo winner, but maybe that winner can get the Cruz vs Munhoz winner or the Edgar vs Vera winner. Like I said, there's so many questions and "if's" because we don't know when Sterling and Dillashaw will be available.
With the Font/Aldo loser being my official choice for Sandhagen's eventual return (after a nice 6 month break), that brings us to the end of this one. What do you guys think? Who will it be next for Sandhagen? Who do you want it to be? What do you think happens in the probable Yan vs Sterling 2 fight? Would Yan beat Dillashaw? Let me know in the comments and thanks for reading.
Comments
Post a Comment