Cory Sandhagen beat Marlon ‘Chito’ Vera via a split decision at UFC San Antonio. Vera and Sandhagen battled it out in the bantamweight main event of UFC San Antonio. Although many expected a finish, the top-ranked bantamweight delivered a highly competitive fight.
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‘Chito’ was on a four-fight win streak since his loss to Jose Aldo in 2020. He beat the likes of Sean O’Malley and Frankie Edgar on his way to UFC San Antonio. Cory Sandhagen, on the other hand, was 3-2 in his last 5, losing to former champions Petr Yan and TJ Dillashaw. Both fighters could start making the case for a title fight with a potential win at UFC San Antonio.
Fans react to Vera vs. Sandhagen at UFC San Antonio
Sandhagen had Vera on the back foot from the start of the fight. He took the fight to the ground and maintained dominance. It did not take long before he repeated the same in the second round. However, the last three rounds were more competitive than the opening ones. Vera made his way back to the fight and had Sandhagen on the ropes a few times as well.
In the end, Sandhagen did enough to earn a split-decision victory. With a win over #3 ranked Vera, Sandhagen called out #1 ranked Merab Dvalishvili.
The fight earned many reactions, including a few interesting ones from Conor McGregor, Michael Chandler, Islam Makhachev, etc. Many pros also called out a judge who scored it in Vera’s favor.
In a deleted tweet, McGregor wrote, “One gollier of a spit and two snot rockets each nostril just now from both fighters at the end of the fourth. It’s a ridiculous habit some people have. It should be abolished via threat of point deduction.”
Chito is still a dog…we all have off nights….Chito will wear the belt, but now he’s got some work to do.
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) March 26, 2023
Cory Sandhagen wins. Very impressive. Not sure about that 48-47 but all good. I thought it was 49-46. Incredible showing from Sandhagen.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 26, 2023
I want to see the judge who gave chito 🤷♂️🤷♂️🤷♂️
— Makhachev Islam (@MAKHACHEVMMA) March 26, 2023
Kudos to Sandhagen for even being able to field post-fight questions after hearing a judge actually scored that for Chito. That had me dumbfounded for a solid five minutes.
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) March 26, 2023
Kudos to @corysandhagen – give the kid a title shot!
— Michael Chandler (@MikeChandlerMMA) March 26, 2023
Interview that judge let’s just sit and ask him why
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) March 26, 2023
The judge that gave that to Vera should be fired by morning
— Matt Brown (@IamTheImmortal) March 26, 2023
Split decision???
— Din Thomas (@DinThomas) March 26, 2023
48-47 Vera??? I love Chito as well but damn what was that judge watching smh 🤦🏿♂️ #UFCSanAntonio
— KAMARU USMAN (@USMAN84kg) March 26, 2023
The state of judging in MMA is an absolute joke #UFCSanAntonio
— Chris Daukaus (@ChrisDaukausMMA) March 26, 2023
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These judges make me sick 🤢. That was a 5 round beating! You owe me a Steak dinner @mwonsover I predict these deez tings!
— Henry Cejudo (@HenryCejudo) March 26, 2023
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What are your reactions to Vera vs Sandhagen? Do you agree with the scorecards? Let us know in the comments.
