Petr Yan vs. Cory Sandhagen has Fight of the Year potential.
There’s a certain level of excitement that comes with big matchups in mixed martial arts. When two top-ranked fighters are placed together, and closely matched, with varied skillsets – there’s no telling how the fight will shape up. That’s how many are looking at the UFC 267 co-main event between former champion, Petr Yan, and Cory Sandhagen as they battle for the interim UFC bantamweight title.
Let’s start the conversation by getting the easy comparisons out of the way. Yan and Sandhagen match up evenly, except for one clear designation that goes the way of Sandhagen. At 5’11 he will hold a three-inch reach advantage over Yan. Expect this to come into play early and often throughout the fight, as it’s one of the key physical advantages between the two men.
Sandhagen has shown that he can strike very well from range, and his in-and-out movement is among some of the best at 135 pounds. When adding in his ability to land devastating shots from range, the sense of danger when fighting him rises.
One of the interesting aspects of this fight is to watch how long the action occurs. While neither man has been finished, one must wonder if Sandhagen will be able to hang in an extended war of attrition with Yan. Yan averages almost five minutes more fight time than Sandhagen. And what fight fans have seen over that time, especially in the UFC, is a pace of dominance that breaks his opponents. Aljamain Sterling tried to come out hot against Yan at UFC 259, but Yan’s pressure eventually caused the tide to turn and he was well on his way to a victory before the foul that led to the disqualification.
Sandhagen can keep a tough pace as well, but the key question is how long he can remain on the gas for extended periods of time. His bout against T.J. Dillashaw was exceptionally close, so much so that there’s many individuals that scored the fight in his favor. The perception is that there were moments where Sandhagen took his foot off the gas, allowing Dillashaw to squeak out the victory via split decision. Sandhagen cannot afford to make that same mistake against Yan because his pressure and pace is more than enough to score the crucial points needed for a decision win.
The Outcome
Expect this to be a highly technical bout from start to finish. The question is how long until that finish occurs. The longer this bout goes on, the more it is in Yan’s favor. Expect Sandhagen to have success on the feet and potentially in scrambles on the floor. But Yan is a calculated combatant that will do enough to pick up a unanimous decision victory after five rounds.
Prediction: Yan via unanimous decision.