T.J. Dillashaw vs Cory Sandhagen Booked for UFC Fight Night on May 8

May 8th Fight Night Card Adds T.J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen Fight

T.J. Dillashaw (16-4, 12-4 UFC) is from Sacramento, California, and fights out of The Treigning Lab in Placentia, California. Dillashaw is currently coming off a two-year U.S. Anti-Doping Agency suspension that stemmed from a positive drug test for EPO in January 2019. This suspension came off the back of a first-round TKO loss to Henry Cejudo, which was for Cejudo’s flyweight title.

The loss for Dillashaw didn’t just end the possibility of a champ-champ status but it ended a four-fight winning streak. This streak included back-to-back TKO wins over rival Cody Garbrandt as well as two unanimous decision wins over John Lineker and Raphael Assuncao. Therefore, Dillashaw will be looking to regain momentum and climb the bantamweight rankings once again with victory over Cory Sandhagen.

Cory Sandhagen (14-2, 7-1 UFC) is from Aurora, Colorado, and fights out of Elevation Fight Team in Denver, Colorado. Sandhagen is currently coming off a potential 2021 knockout of the year candidate against former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar. For Sandhagen his UFC career has been faultless since his round one loss to UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling in June of last year.

Since then Sandhagen has won back-to-back fights by knockout against Frankie Edgar and Marlon Moraes. Sandhagen demonstrated in both fights that he can win fights by spinning wheel kicks as well as flying knee knockouts. This coupled with split and unanimous decision wins over John Lineker and Raphael Assuncao means that Sandhagen can end a fight at any point as well as knowing what he needs to do to get a decision win. Therefore, Cory Sandhagen is a serious risk to the redemption story of T.J. Dillashaw.

This fight between T.J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen is redemption vs reward. This is because the suspension of T.J. Dillashaw has raised question over his entire career and as a result, his legacy in MMA has been brought into question. Therefore, Dillashaw will be looking to silence the critics and earn redemption in his return fight against Cory Sandhagen. However, this fight is high in reward because the winner will be seen as the next challenger for the UFC bantamweight title. Furthermore, a win for Cory Sanhagen will see him go from prospect to title contender with a win over former UFC bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw.

It is believed that the fight between T.J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen will be the headliner for the May 8th card. With the addition of T.J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen, the announced bouts for the May 8th card is as follows:

• Bantamweight: T.J. Dillashaw vs Cory Sandhagen
• Welterweight: Donald Cerrone vs Diego Sanchez
• Flyweight: Zarrukh Adashev vs Ryan Benoit
• Heavyweight: Maurice Greene vs Marcos Rogerio de Lima
• Welterweight: Christian Aguilera vs Carlston Lindsay Harris
• Flyweight: Francisco Figueredo vs Jimmy Flick
• Flyweight: Roxanne Modafferi vs Taila Santos
• Middleweight: Tafon Nchukwi vs Jun Yong Park
• Lightweight: Damir Hadzovic vs Nikolas Matta
• Heavyweight: Ben Rothwell vs Philipe Lins

Who do you see winning between T.J. Dillashaw and Cory Sandhagen? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!

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