- Cory Sandhagen sent a massive spinning wheel kick that took down Marlon Moraes.
- The American made a massive step towards the title fight recovering from a loss against Aljamain Sterling.
- Edson Barbosa defeated Makwan Amirkhani, while Joaquin Buckley delivered a potential KO of the Year.
Sandhagen’s Big Comeback
The American fighter was devastated after the loss against Aljamain Sterling earlier this year. Fast forward a couple of months later, and he is ready to attack the UFC bantamweight title following the biggest win of his career.
Cory Sandhagen defeated the former WSOF bantamweight champ and the UFC challenger in the same division, Marlon Moraes, with a second-round TKO. Sandhagen sent a powerful wheel kick that struck Moraes’ head, knocking him off balance. The Brazilian tried to protect himself after falling to the ground, but his rival was quick and furious, which forced the judge in the ring to stop the bout.
“That’s putting in hard work in that quarantine — when you can’t go to the gym and all you have is that BOB,” Sandhagen said after the fight. “I knew that I could win that way, but that wasn’t the plan. I was just going to be free, man. I was just going to be myself.”
The battle saw a dynamic start with Moraes hunting for the rival with his punches, and on the other side, the Sandman kept his on distance with leg hicks and punching combinations. There were many hits in the first five minutes, many of them inaccurate, but both fighters tried to keep the energy of the fight at a high level.
Sandhagen finally started to breach Moraes’ defense in the second frame, first by inflicting him with a high kick that shook the Brazilian a little bit and hurt his orbital bone. After that, he waited for that one chance to deliver the final blow, and eventually took care of the matters in the ring.
Dillashaw or Edgar Next, If Yan Isn’t Available
After losing to Sterling, Sandhagen chances to challenge Petr Yan, the new bantamweight champion, vanished. Following this one, his prospects of getting that title shot are again solid. Moraes was the No.2 contender in the division, and once you earn a win over such a high-ranked fighter, the situation changes in your favor.
He talked about that, saying that he expects to see Yan and Sterling first, because the latter deserved that after a win in their head-to-head matchup. In the meantime, Sandhagen has two names which would be suitable for his next match.
“The only other two other guys that have an argument are Frankie (Edgar) and T.J. (Dillashaw). Maybe I fight one of those guys before they end up fighting each other,” he said.
Barboza Wins, Buckley’s Highlight KO
The veteran from Brazil stopped his three-match losing streak defeating Makwan Amirkhani after a unanimous decision.
However, the star of the night was Joaquin Buckley, whose spinning high kick sent Impa Kasanganay to the la-la land. This was probably the best KO of the entire 2020, and you should search for it on the web.
