The former UFC bantamweight champion, TJ Dillashaw took on Cory Sandhagen in the main event of UFC vegas 32. And as advertised this was one of the best fights of this year so far.
It was 5 round war between two of the best bantamweights in UFC and the skillsets shown by both the fighters amazed the MMA community. Though it was a close fight and many fans do not agree with the judges’ decision credit has to be given to Dillashaw.
TJ Dillashaw was coming off a 2-year suspension. He even suffered a nasty cut on his right eye during the training camp leading up to this fight, which played a huge factor in this fight. So it was expected that it would be a difficult fight for Dillashaw.
However, the level of durability shown by TJ Dillashaw on his return was spectacular, to say the least. With a bad cut on the eye and an injured ankle, Dillashaw was able to fight 5 rounds with one of the most skilled bantamweights in UFC history.
TJ Dillashaw showcases insane durability at UFC vegas 32
In round 1 of the fight, Cory Sandhagen got TJ Dillashaw in a heel hook with one minute remaining on the clock.. Though Dillashaw was not in trouble he did not show urgency to get out of the submission. And that allowed Sandhagen to do some serious damage to the knee of Dillashaw.
Here’s where @TJDillashaw popped his knee. Notice how he walks back to his corner on wobbly legs. #UFCVegas32 pic.twitter.com/E6bXVkXcPU
— Sports Manor (@sports_manor) July 25, 2021
It was clear that Dillashaw was hurt after round 1 as he wobbled to his corner. He even said to his corner that he popped his knee in between rounds. In his post-fight interview, TJ Dillashaw stated:
“My knee, I popped it in that first round. I got lazy, I knew I had a leg lock and I was just chilling on top. I got lazy, let him pop it there at the end. I couldn’t throw my hooks in. When I took him down, one time I tried to throw my hook in, my knee popped and I had to bail out. So I kinda stopped and I took his back. My game plan was to throw the hooks in and that went out the window obviously, you know.”
Had Dillashaw not injured his eye leading upto the fight he would have put a much better performance against Cory Sandhagen as the cut compromised his vision to a great extent. Nevertheless, Dillashaw proved that he is still an elite fighter as he waits for the winner of Petr Yan vs Aljamain Sterling 2.