The number 2 ranked UFC Bantamweight fighter Cory Sandhagen is going to meet the former two times Bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw in the main event of UFC on ESPN 24 on 8th May.
Dillashaw is coming back after being suspended for two years after a positive EPO test in January 2019. Many people believe that this will affect his form now but Cory Sandhagen isn’t buying all this.
In his latest interview with MMA Junkie, Sandhagen says, “The guy’s been out for two-and-a-half years almost now, so who knows what he’s been doing in that time? I know that he had a couple of shoulder surgeries, which put him out for a little bit, and I know that I’ve been working really hard in those two years.”
“I don’t really know what he’s been doing, but yeah, I suppose that’s probably the narrative that T.J. is probably gonna come back as a not-as-great version of T.J., but that’s just a narrative that I’m not gonna buy into.” {H/T MMA Junkie}
Sandhagen added, “I’m gonna buy into the narrative which is gonna keep me safer, which is T.J. is gonna come back a better T.J.If he was on EPO or whatever type of drugs he was on for his entire career and he’s off of them, then that’s 100 percent gonna play a factor.”
“Am I banking on that? Absolutely not. But if that is the case, which I have no idea if that’s the case or not, then, yeah, he’s probably not gonna be coming back the same guy.” {H/T MMA Junkie}
Cory Sandhagen is ready to show more improvement in his game
Since his submission loss against Aljamain Sterling in June, Cory Sandhagen won two back-to-back fights with highlight-reel knockouts against Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar and he is all set to show Dillashaw some new tricks from his book.
Sandhagen added, “I’m working on a lot of really cool stuff right now, I think my entire game, I don’t really know when it’s been happening, maybe it’s been during this quarantine time or maybe it’s just because of the really high-level guys that I’ve had to be fighting in the last year or two, but I think my game has really evolved.”
“Certainly my mental game has evolved big time. I go in with a much better mindset, and I’ve really hammered down the performance part of the fighting. It’s just skill on its own, so I’m excited about all of those things, but I’m also excited about the technical things I’ve been working on.” {H/T MMA Junkie}
He continued, “If the fight does last longer than 30 seconds than may last one then I think we’ll be able to see some really cool, new technical things that I’ve been working on that is different than a lot of the people that are doing it in the sport”
“I like to be the guy coming up with all the new stuff, and I think that’s who I am. Hopefully I don’t get to show it because I knock him out really quickly, but if I do, then that’s cool with me too.” {H/T MMA Junkie}
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