T.J Dillashaw vs Cory Sandhagen: The Brawl of the Former Teammates. I was heartbroken when it didn't happen the first time around but am pumped that they were able to reschedule! T.J got caught during drilling he said and opened up a gash above his eye. Makes me wonder if that'll play any sort of factor coming into this one. There are so many other questions that I am asking myself coming into this. I don't want to sound like an old record but what if T.J isn't the same without the enhancers? What if the ring rust places a factory? Cory has been very active that past few years. That'll be 9th fight since 2018. Now that T.J has enjoyed this life away from fighting being more involved in his son's life and with all of his different business ventures. Does the fact that T.J has all these different responsibilities take something away hungry TJ Dillashaw we've grown accustomed to seeing. Huge Oppunitunity for Cory. I see him taking this fight. His camp seems to be extremely confident that he'll win this one. Given their history as training partners, story is that Cory used to get the better of TJ all the time. Cory is better, stronger, more experienced fighter since their time as training partners.
With as much sh1t people have given TJ ever since he popped, I'm really hoping he wins; but I picture him eating a big knee shooting for a takedown. He's aware that Cory has no semblance of grappling, and he's been talking about wanting to showcase his jiu-jitsu in recent interviews.
What a crock of a decision, TJ gets his face bashed in and barely lands a punch other than hugs the guy from behind and doing no damage. Dana's side piece Macey Barber clearly loses the first 2 rounds and barely wins the 3rd and is given a split decision, flat out fuking robbery.
Judging has seen a serious regression lately. Looked like the days of wall and stall winning fights in which the staller took more damage were in the rear view mirror. Dillashaw took far more damage in rounds in 4-5(I imagine those are the rounds the judges were split on) and did next to nothing when he had Sandhagen against the cage.
Round 1 - Dillashaw The striking was pretty even, but TJ clearly takes the round with his grappling. Round 2 - Sandhagen Terrible round for Dillashaw. Sandhagen did an excellent job controlling the range and keeping the fight center cage. Round 3 - Dillashaw Leg kicks! Round 4 - Dillashaw Opening minute was just all Dillashaw. He really turned it up a notch. But Sandhagen got back into the fight and IMO it was a really close round. Round 5 - Sandhagen Best round of the fight. Yea, I donĀ“t see what you guys are moaning about. I think 3-2 either way is fine and the official scorecards were completely reasonable. The first 2 rounds were clear and easy to score. That was a nasty cut on TJ. About as bad as it could get without seeing the bone. The left hook to the body for Sandhagen was damn sneaky and just a beauty! He underutilized it and it will definitely be a big tool for him if they ever rematch. Media reported this an instant classic. My casual ass thinks it was just a good fight.