Cory Sandhagen signs to fight Aljamain Sterling at UFC 250
With UFC 50 still looking light on the fight card, a slew of fights will be announced over the next few days. Most recently, Cory Sandhagen signed on to fight Aljamain Sterling. The news was first reported by MMA Junkie. The fight card, which features Amanda Nunes v. Felicia Spencer is still accumulating new fights every day.
It was originally believed that Sandhagen would be fighting for the bantamweight belt, held by Henry Cejudo. Yet with Cejudo’s retirement in question, to say the least, Sandhagen wasn’t willing to wait. Sandhagen will see one of his toughest matchups against the streaking Sterling. The undefeated Sandhagen is still pushing for a title shot after wins over Raphael Assuncao, John Lineker and Mario Bautista.
A win over Sterling would certainly catapult Sandhagen into title contention, depending on Cejudo’s status. Yet Sterling is also riding a four-fight win streak. Sterling, the number two contender recently defeated Pedro Munhoz in a decision at UFC 238. With recent victories over Pedro Munhoz and Jimmie Rivera, Sterling should see himself in the title talks with a victory. Both fighters sit in the top five of the bantamweight division, which is loaded with title challengers.
It had been discussed that Petr Yan would see the next title shot after Cejudo announced his last fight at UFC 249. But now, with Cejudo’s manager saying the retirement will be short-lived, and this fight between two top-five contenders, could Yan be left out of title contention? Or could this fight be a title eliminator with Yan simply waiting in the wing?
UFC 250 is set for June 6 with no official location set in stone.
Currently, the fight card is as follows:
Main Event: Amanda Nunes vs. Felicia Spencer
Devin Clark vs. Alonzo Menifield
Ian Heinisch vs. Gerald Meerschaert
Jussier Formiga vs. Alex Perez
Charles Byrd vs. Maki Pitolo
Neil Magny vs. Anthony Rocco Martin
Cory Sandhagen vs. Aljamain Sterling
