“I’ve always wanted to fight him,” Cory Sandhagen wants Dominick Cruz for the next fight after the veteran’s inspiring UFC 269 win


“I’ve always wanted to fight him,” Cory Sandhagen wants Dominick Cruz for the next fight after the veteran’s inspiring UFC 269 win

Cory Sandhagen wants the former champion Dominick Cruz for next fight

Cory Sandhagen is very impressed with former UFC champion Dominick Cruz’s latest win in the octagon. Impressed to the extent of eyeing a fight against the veteran for his next outing.

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UFC 269 was incredible from top to bottom. The fight card was so stacked that a fighter of Dominick Cruz status had to take a spot in the preliminary card. Cruz has never been a fighter that has displayed a lot of activity inside the octagon but that did not stop the top bantamweight to put on an electrifying performance and beat another top-ranked Pedro Munhoz at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Cruz’s performance has a special place in recent title challenger Cory Sandhagen’s heart. ‘The Sandman’ is coming off a tough loss against the interim bantamweight champion Petr Yan at UFC 267 and is now looking for another fierce opponent. Despite being someone who does not watch a lot of MMA fights, Sandhagen caught himself appreciating the performance of Cruz and now wants to face him.

In a recent episode of MMA Hour hosted by Ariel Helwani, Sandhagen spoke about his interest to fight Cruz. “To me, that’s just a really admirable thing. I have a ton of respect for the guys that stick around for a long time because this sport isn’t easy man,” said Sandhagen on Cruz’s longevity. “For him to continue to put himself in that fire is very, very admirable. So I was happy for Cruz, man.”

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“He’s top of my list,” says Cory Sandhagen on Dominick Cruz

Petr Yan vs Cory Sandhagen UFC 267
Cory Sandhagen from his fight against Petr Yan

Right now, Cory’s options are really good in the bantamweight division. Jose Aldo, Rob Font, and Cruz himself are in the mix for being the next opponent Sandhagen might face. He is currently ranked at #4 in the list while Font and Cruz are ranked #5 and #7 respectively. Even though Font is ranked higher than Cruz, Cory Sandhagen wants to fight “The Dominator”.

“I’ve always wanted to fight Cruz man. I’ve always wanted to fight him. If you’re going to press me real hard, then, he’s probably at the top of my list. Especially because Font wasn’t even really in that fight with Aldo, even though I didn’t watch a ton of it,” said Sandhagen on why he prefers Cruz over Font.

“Not to take anything away from Font, but Cruz did really well and Cruz is a legend and he’s someone that I’ve watched and admired for a really long time. So that would be cool.”

Also read “Underperforming hurts worse”- Dustin Poirier why losing to Charles Oliveira was disappointing

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