Cory Sandhagen knew exactly what he was doing grappling with Deiveson Figueiredo.
Saturday’s UFC Des Moines bantamweight main event ended in ugly fashion when a Sandhagen attack resulted in Figueiredo having to tap out to a leg injury in the second round (the official decision was a TKO win for Sandhagen). Prior to that sequence, Sandhagen dominated the majority of the contest, showing he was unafraid to trade strikes or go to the ground with the two-time flyweight champion.
It was on the ground where Sandhagen proved to be far superior as he utilized his submission experience to put the pressure on Figueiredo and earn the finish.
“It was like a pop submission,” Sandhagen said at the evening’s post-fight press conference. “The position’s called ‘50/50.’ If you don’t know how to play 50/50, you’re going to pop your knee. I spun under, I went for a backside 50/50, it didn’t hit, he got on top, I sat up really hard just to get on top and if I sit up hard and you don’t sit back, your knee is going to pop. It happened to T.J. [Dillashaw] when I did that to him, it happened to Figgy, I heard it click really loud.
“So that wasn’t like an accidental thing. That was like a ‘Hey, Figgy, you’re either going to sit down on your butt or we’re popping your knee.’ And that’s what happened.”
Sandhagen credited his 50/50 expertise to coach Ryan Hall, a veteran fighter famous for innovating the grappling position. Given that Sandhagen has worked with Hall for years, he’s even more confused as to why Figueiredo would play around in a position he seemed unprepared for.
“He didn’t have that at all,” Sandhagen said. “I don’t really know what he was doing. Even when I was hitting him, he wasn’t stopping. My arm hurts from hitting him with it. I don’t know really what that was about, but you’re not going to beat me at leglocks ever.”
With the win, Sandhagen rebounded from a loss to Umar Nurmagomedov this past August, a result that earned Nurmagomedov a shot at bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili at UFC 311. That made it four opponents (also including Aljamain Sterling, T.J. Dillashaw, and Petr Yan) that parlayed wins over Sandhagen into title opportunities in their next fights.
Sandhagen was asked if he’d like to be the backup for Dvalishvili’s upcoming championship rematch with Sean O’Malley at UFC 316 on June 7, but he has a better idea.
“I think I deserve the title shot next, regardless,” Sandhagen said. “Who else is there? Umar just fought for the belt, lost. Yan is coming off of a win but also lost to both of the guys that are fighting, so I don’t know how exciting that would be. And then I finished Figgy in a round and a half, Yan didn’t finish Figgy. Yan got dropped by Figgy, Figgy I think maybe hit me one time. So I showed that I’m better. I showed that I’m the best guy and I deserve to be next.”
Whoever wins the UFC 316 main event might not be inclined to make a quick turnaround to defend the title. Even so, Sandhagen has waited a long time for his championship opportunity so he plans to stay patient—to a point.
“If it’s the belt next, I’ll wait,” Sandhagen said. “I’ll wait. I don’t know how long, but I’ll wait.”
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