UFC bantamweight Cory Sandhagen halted his two-fight skid with a vicious doctor’s stoppage victory over Song Yadong this past weekend. Although he’s ranked fourth in the 135-pound division, Sandhagen feels a long way away from a title conversation currently dominated by the rivalry between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling, to say nothing of Sterling’s next opponent, former champion T.J.
Dillashaw. With former bantamweight – and flyweight – champ Henry Cejudo threatening to return from retirement to compete for UFC gold, Sandhagen explained on The MMA Hour why he feels that’s a bad idea for the division.
Cory Sandhagen Explains Why Cejudo Shouldn’t Join Bantamweight Title Queue
“What is he doing? I don’t know what the hell the guy is doing. He’s going to be a curve ball forever if it’s his decision.
He’s been off for so long. Why would the UFC do that? Why would they invest in someone who is just going to probably peace out after he maybe wins the title again? I don’t really see Henry as someone that can really build off of because I don’t think he’s going to stick around for long.
I think he’s going to try to cherry-pick some fights, make another title fight, whether to make money or legacy — whatever his motivator is, I can’t really say — but I don’t really think he’s going to do it because he wants to stick around. He’s going to do it because — I don’t know why the hell he’s going to do it. I just don’t get it. I just don’t see him sticking around.”
Cejudo’s solitary bantamweight title defense was against Dominick Cruz, who was then returning from a three-year layoff. He retired shortly afterward, but never ceased talking about a potential return. Most notably, he has attempted to bait featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski and former featherweright and lightweight champion Conor McGregor into a return fight.
As of this writing, although Cejudo has re-entered USADA’s resting pool, he has made no indication of a return to competition. UFC president Dana White has consistently maintained that Cejudo would need to come back and put together a few wins before competing for a title once again.
Considering Cory Sandhagen’s own status as perennial title contender – his only UFC losses came against Petr Yan and T.J. Dillashaw, former champions, and Aljamain Sterling, the current champion – he’d be happy to welcome Cejudo back to the division.
“That’s great too. I’m OK with that fight also. I haven’t thought about Henry too much, but fighting someone as good as Henry would be really awesome.” Do you agree with Cory Sandhagen? Let us know in the comments.
