‘Cory is One of Those Guys Who Pushed Me in the Gym’- T.J. Dillashaw on His Next Opponent Cory Sandhagen

T.J. Dillashaw is all set to make his much anticipated UFC return at the UFC on ESPN 27 event. Dillashaw will be facing Cory Sandhagen at the event. Fans are very excited to see the former champion return to action after over 2 years.

Dillashaw last competed in the UFC at UFC Fight Night 143 against Henry Cejudo. This was Dillashaw’s Flyweight debut. He lost this fight via a first-round TKO. Later the same year Dillashaw had to vacate his Bantamweight title as they banned him for 2 years for failing a drug test.

As Dillashaw never actually lost the UFC Bantamweight title, he expects to get a victory over Sandhagen and challenge for the title soon. During a recent interview, Dillashaw talked about this and shared his views of Cory Sandhagen.

He said, “Cory Sandhagen is a great opponent. I trained a ton with him, he’s a great athlete but it’s a great fight for me. It’s a great fight for me to win and come back to prove my worth, get my belt back as soon as Aljamain and Yan figure out their deal.”

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Sandhagen is currently No.2 in the UFC bantamweight rankings, therefore a victory over him would certainly warrant Dillashaw a title shot.

T.J. Dillashaw talks about training with Cory Sandhagen

Dillashaw and Sandhagen were training partners for almost 2 years at MusclePharm (called the Elevation Fight Team). Speaking of training together, Dillashaw was all praise for Sandhagen. He said, “You got to have those guys who push you in the gym, and Cory is one of those guys who pushed me in the gym.”

“I mean, I’ve been pumping Cory up before Cory’s even pumping himself up. I was one of the biggest advocates to get him into the UFC. Taking pictures with him, saying like man, this guy has gotta be in the UFC. This was a good way before anybody knew he was, you know he’s a great athlete so. I got nothing bad to say about Cory.”

As Dillashaw and Sandhagen have trained together a lot, both the fighters must be aware of each other’s fighting style. Therefore, it would be interesting to see which one of them comes out on top.

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Who do you think will win the fight between Dillashaw and Sandhagen? Let us know in the comments.