Cory Sandhagen opens nasty cut on Song Yadong, gets TKO stoppage in UFC Vegas 60 main event
The Ultimate Fighting Championship returns to us tonight, September 17, 2022, for UFC Vegas 60, going down live from the Apex Center in Enterprise, Nevada.
Headlining the event is a bantamweight clash, as no. 4 ranked Cory Sandhagen (14-4) faces no. 10 ranked Song Yadong (19-5-1-1) in the main event of the evening.
This was somewhat of a crossroads fight for Sandhagen, who’d lost his last two-straight, going 2-3 in his last five going in. Albeit, those defeats came to the current bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling, and former bantamweight champions TJ Dillashaw and Petr Yan, and those two wins came via knockout over former world champions Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar.
But, he’s expected more out of himself, and after nearly a year away, he came to prove himself to still be atop the UFC’s 135 lb division tonight.
Yadong on the other hand came in tonight on a three-fight win streak, his last two via knockout, and he was also 8-1-1 inside the octagon coming in. Many people wondered why they UFC would give Sandhagen this fight, given the rankings of the two, but really, it was a great opportunity for each man to truly showcase themselves against a dangerous opponent.
Continue reading to see how this epic 135 lb main event went down:
Official Result: Cory Sandhagen def. Song Yadong via TKO (doctor stoppage) at 5:00 of round four
Sandhagen tries for an early takedown that Yadong easily stuffs. He goes for another, with Yadong again stuffing it, only Yadong turns Sandhagen over this time and ends up on top. Sandhagen gets up, where Yadong takes his back for a moment before he falls off and they’re back to striking range.
Yadong is looking really sharp, he’s landing some hard shots on Sandhagen. He hurts Sandhagen in the second round, stumbling him backward with a hard punch, but Sandhagen also lands an elbow that opens a nasty gash on Yadong, nearly stopping the fight.
Sandhagen has more success in the third, as he’s able to stay on the outside and land some nice punches and kicks at the end of combinations.
Throughout the first three rounds, Sandhagen attempted a number of takedowns, Yadong handily defending all of them. But, he’d secure his first, and second takedowns of the fight in the fourth, ending that round on top reigning down some heavy shots.
The fight would be stopped before the fifth round began, as the doctor called a stop to the action due to the vicious cut over Yadong’s eye.
Song Yadong had a good showing, but Cory Sandhagen snapped his two-fight skid tonight at UFC Vegas 60.
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