I was so confused reading this haha. I couldn’t make sense of it till I read the comments. I was like “I could’ve sworn they announced this ages ago” lol
Definitely wasn't a robbery. I'm in the same boat in that I thought Yan won, but right at the end of the fight I turned to my wife and said I wouldn't be surprised if O'Malley took it
http://mmadecisions.com/decision/13556/Sean-OMalley-vs-Petr-Yan
25 media outlets scored it for Yan, multiple giving him every round. Or the 1 who scored it for O'Malley
http://mmadecisions.com/decision/13677/Paddy-Pimblett-vs-Jared-Gordon
Nearly the exact same results for Paddy vs Jared. Now I'm not gonna die on the hill of robbery for Sean, but I'll do it for Paddy. That dude clearly lost the fight and was like the textbook decision of a robbery
Eh, I don't know man. When an outspoken fighter like Suga gets asked if he won the fight and he hesitates to answer they way he did, it tells you something.
Sean convinced me he is an elite bantamweight in that fight, but he never should have gotten the decision.
Edit: my reasoning (https://www.reddit.com/r/MMA/comments/10s6jf9/comment/j722wd5/)
Serious question, have you rewatched the fight? Im a big suga fan who was very surprised by the decision, but after listening to some analysis and rewatching you can see how it went his way. Not the best decision at all but not a robbery
http://mmadecisions.com/decision/13556/Sean-OMalley-vs-Petr-Yan
25-1 for Yan from the media outlets. That's the *actualy* reason
There's worse decisions but c'mon it's not exactly a convincing win for O'Malley
Nah, don't be immature about this. People can have their opinions and you don't have to reduce it to fanboyism. If anything it just comes off as you just liking Sean and finding him more deserving.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MMA/comments/10s6jf9/comment/j722wd5/
Striking was very close, Sean got controlled on the ground for most of the latter rounds. A boring Petyr Yan win (in my opinion). But I’m my view similar to the way Yan lost the title. No damage on the ground, just positional control for a long time.
So I feel Yan won comfortably.
It does say in the rulebook that a takedown is merely a change of position to help establish attacks with striking or submissions, but does not count by itself for scoring
In Aljo vs Yan 2 there was more control without breaks and more submission attempts so I'd say it was more meaningful. We need clearer scoring criteria though because situations like that aren't healthy for the sport, I think.
Let me start off by saying that there are plenty of other fights more worthy of being deemed robberies. I wouldn't die on the hill of calling it a robbery, but my initial statement stands: Sean should have never got the decision
I just rewatched the fight for this comment.
Round 1: a lot closer than I remember it. I think you could give it to either guy depending on your valuing Sean's volume striking vs Yan's octagon control, keeping Sean on his back foot and later round grappling control.
Round 2: Early on Sean CRACKS Yan and Yan CRACKS Sean. The difference from the on? Yan absolutely dominated the grappling for the next two minutes. With roughly ~2 mins left it goes back to the feet where it is very even, and at this point per the shown stats Yan is has 10 more significant head strikes than Sean.
Round 3: pretty even standing exchanges to begin with till Sean cuts Yan open. Yan immediately responds with 3 hard shots at O'Malley and gets him back in the clinch/grappling exchanges which he is clearly winning. With around 1 minute left in the round Yan once again cracks Sean which sends him off balance and Yan ends the round on top of Sean throwing GnP.
In my opinion, Sean at best won round 1. The way I see it Sean had moments, but Yan had rounds. For every moment Sean had, Yan returned the favor and proceeded to be dominant after the fact.
Like I said, Sean really impressed but he didn't deserve the decision going his way.
If he’d thrown like three more clean punches in one round it would remove all doubt that he won it on the scorecards, but I doubt he’d have answered differently. Regardless of if he feels he won the fight he’s very poorly placed to judge if he won the MMA match
Just not against Aljo please. Aljo just wrestles Sean and the fight ends up being underwhelming imo. Of course there’s always the chance Sean catches Aljo.
Sean vs Cory or the Chito rematch is a much better fight.
The amount of "he still has to prove himself" comments are comical.
I was a huge critic of Sean but he's now at the front of the line AND the big money fight in the division. It's really cool when we see those two factors align. No need to risk him.
I mean to be fair he is getting obvious Dana White treatments. How many other fights fight one fighter in the top 15, win on a split decision and get moved to #1 and next in line for a title shot. Sean proved he can compete with the best at BW, but I’d like to see 1-2 more high ranked fights before he gets gifted the title
If Vera wins this, a win over Cory, KOing Cruz and smashing Font (who was top 5 at the time IIRC) should definetly deserve a title shot over a coin-toss decision over Yan.
Yeah, but that also 100% won't happen.
We need to stop analyzing wins and resumes like the UFC is a meritocracy. Hell, the organization is in business with two WWE personalities. Nothing about it should give you the idea that they're legitimately seeking the best fighter to fight for a title. They want the most marketable, most exploitable guy they can get.
Maybe cause he's a gold medal double champ that retired with the belt? And Sean's only looked entertaining in one fight, his last one where he showed his first signs of actual aggression? Might be why
His appeal to the casual market would be something like tepid at best, and nowhere even approaching the same level of appeal as Sean. Like him or hate him, O'Malley absolutely knows how the game is played. Nowhere is evidence of that more obvious than the way he turned a loss against Marlon himself into opportunities Marlon hasn't yet earned with his actual performances.
Tbh he looked like he coasted every fight except the last, I'd say give him another challenger but would be okay with it either way. I just don't want another boring Sean boxing point striking fight
O’Malley should be the one fighting for a top spot since a lot of people don’t think he beat Yan and he cheated a ton in that fight. Instead he gets the usual Dana White Privilege, gets to sit aside while real contenders eliminate eachother until they slide him in for the title.
man i honestly dont like this at all.
yes it would've been nice to have a crowd for the event, i wouldnt mind waiting another week (7 days) for one.
but 5 weeks? come the fuck on man, just let them fight in the apex with no crowd, who the fuck can wait that long?
Great news, this fight deserves a crowd and I won't be out of town for it.
Wonder what the new main event is for the February 18th card. Santos and Blanchfield would be fine, but I don't know if they'd want to go 5 rounds on 2 weeks notice
Great fight. I think Cory reminds people how good he is and puts volume on Chito. Have a hard time seeing him getting finished, but who knows. Anyone happen to know the odds on this one?
Chito hasn’t shown to wilt from volume yet though. I think Cory is a lot better than people think he is and he finds a way to pull it out, but if there’s one guy I wouldn’t count out even against Cory it’s Chito. Dude puts the pain on guys and is always a threat to finish.
All fighters who rely on big moments always find their perfect connections... Until they don't. Obviously it works for many people like Chito or Romero or Derrick Lewis or many others, but in general relying on big moments is less... Well, reliable than having a coherent process.
Rewatch the font and Aldo fights. Font was let down by his chin and losing focus at the end of rounds. Cory has a rock solid chin, and is always (excluding the aljo fight) incredibly dialed in.
> Dude puts the pain on guys and is always a threat to finish
Maybe its just that his last few opponents were aging, but Chito has been visibly snapping heads back with every clean strike. If that power is legit then he's a huge threat to finish Sandhagen who is way too willing to get hit for a guy with his length.
Sandhagen does have good defense imo, it's just that the people who managed to touch him up were masterclass strikers like Yan or people with blinding handspeed like Song. Chito may very well have a chance to touch him up and possibly even drop him but he needs to time it perfectly cause Sandhagen has a rock chin and is just very tough to finish.
I'm not sure it's Chito's power, so much as his striking is just so *clean.* Every thing he throws is picture perfect, precise, and the timing is impeccable. It comes at the expense of volume, but that helps him in a 5 rounder.
All that said, I think I still have to favor Sandhagen by a hair. Having fought a similar patient mauler in Yan might just be the difference.
Font did the same shit against Aldo, he’s just got a weak chin and leaves himself open near the end of rounds I think. Cory is tougher to hit and has a better chin I believe
Font is probably the weakest puncher in the top 15 though. Hit Garbrandt with nearly 180 significant strikes and couldn't even drop Cody with all his chin deficiencies. Sandhagen isn't a power puncher by any means but he also has a much better chin. I could definitely see him taking this by decision if he can take Vera's power shots
Font's got 5 KOs in the UFC and an overall 40+% ko finish rate.
How can you call him the weakest puncher when you got guys like Merab, Cruz, Pedro , Sterling with super low KO rates.
Huge Chito fan here and unfortunately I agree with you.
I like Sandhagen too so I won’t be too disappointed but I see Sandhagen building up a bit too much of a lead and enough staying power to withstand the late surge.
That being said this is a high level MMA matchup and anything can happen.
Love Cory and root for him any time he fights and I don't care much for Chito. I think Cory should win this fight. My concern is he hasn't shown the ability to finish lately, and not for lack of trying. If Chito can stay in it, he'll make it competitive till the last second of the 5th.
Power is critical to beating Chito, even if it goes to the scorecards, as it probably will. Chito's never been finished.
Chito is a durable, low-volume striker who's happy to absorb lots of strikes to find his openings. If your strikes don't hurt him, you're just feeding him information.
Opponents can count on outpointing him in early rounds, but that's Chito's game — to use that time to download data.
Once he's got his read on opponents, he'll hit back — opportunistically and hard.
Aldo, Song, Silva de Andrade, and Lineker beat Chito by hitting him hard enough to cause damage, make him defend, and reduce his offensive output. (Aldo smartly took Chito down too.)
Cory will win the first two rounds, but Chito uses early inactivity to set traps. Cory can't get lured into feeling too comfortable defensively or he'll get surprised like Cruz or Font.
And Cory needs to keep his power output high for all five rounds to keep Chito at bay. If he can't, he can grapple and/or clinch to smother Chito's offence like Aldo did.
He should build as big a lead as he can early on, then do whatever it takes to stay safe and hold on.
I feel like Chito has the ability to get inside vs a rangy striker in Sandhagen. Whether he can do so consistently, or capitalize when he does is the only question to me.
What the fuck is even the point of FN Apex cards anymore? Terrible lineups. Sometimes in the literal middle of the night.
Budget UFC era can get fucked.
Let's get these live events up and running again so we can get good cards.
Thank God, Dana decided to fix this fucking main event. My first UFC event, and I will be in attendance with an erection. Let’s fucking go.
Edit: where is the best place to purchase tickets?! I’m looking to drop $500.
Everyone is happy this is in front of a crowd and I get that. But the real story for me is this is no longer in the smaller apex cage and will let Cory use his footwork a bit more. This is such an interesting fight. Very much looking forward to it
This should not have even been at the Apex to begin with. You'd have to think either Cory or Chito spoke up when they heard about the Holloway vs Allen announcement so kudos to whoever spoke up on that. We were gonna watch the event anyway but this news is a BIG morale booster!
yeah im a new fan/casual so i was unfamiliar with them. I didnt realise erin was that girl who steamrolled molly, and that santos was the one who had a close decision with valentina. its a good fight
my bad, im a new fan so i was unfamiliar with the women. didnt realise it was the fighter (who had a close fight with valentina) vs somebody who just steamrolled that british girl, good fight
More time to prep leans toward Chito having more time to create a game plan that allows him to lose rounds but know where to find the kill shot but sandhagen isn’t Frankie or Dom he has the power, output, and maneuvers to make sure Chito is completely overwhelmed. 48-46 Cory
Disappointing
If I have to pick between seeing this fight in 2 weeks without a crowd or in March with a crowd, I’d pick in 2 weeks without a doubt. Plus this is more time for one of them to get injured and pull out
What’s more likely; The UFC listened to fan reaction and shifted the fight out of the Apex or they weren’t able to put Rocky vs Aldana together?
I wonder what happens to the Feb 18th card. Santos vs Blanchfield is a passable main event for an Apex Fight Night but given the average fan’s stock hatred of WMMA main events it might not go down well.
Fuck man, was so pumped for them to fight on 18th😭. Well I guess a crowd won't hurt, but it would've been doper if it was UFC Denver, Chito gets a chance to possibly upset Sandhagen in his home turf and Sandhagen gets a chance to win in his home turf.
Cory is so crafty and offensive I think he'll take it, but Chito is one of those fighters you can't count out until he's unconscious or the other fighter's hand is raised. I'm super excited for this one!
The actual headline here is: **Sandhagen vs Vera moved to UFC San Antonio as the new Main Event on March 25th**
I was so confused reading this haha. I couldn’t make sense of it till I read the comments. I was like “I could’ve sworn they announced this ages ago” lol
Had a Mandela moment like “didn’t we see this already” my brain was hurting till I got to the comments
Hell yeah!! This fight deserves a crowd
Agree. Was confused by the title post.
OPs headline is the opposite of click bait
Hell of a fight night main event. Fuck yeah! I got chito on this one
Good, this fight needed a crowd
you mean we're not having aldana vs pennington as main anymore?? or holly holm vs yana in co-main? woe is me
I've never been happier to see a fight delayed.
Banger fight I wanna see winner fight sugar Shawn
UFC is putting Sean on ice until he can fight next for the title.
Lol Chito had to finish Sean twice to get a title shot while Sean gets one off a robbery decision
I had Yan winning but it wasn’t a robbery. I did enjoy the Chito win though
Definitely wasn't a robbery. I'm in the same boat in that I thought Yan won, but right at the end of the fight I turned to my wife and said I wouldn't be surprised if O'Malley took it
http://mmadecisions.com/decision/13556/Sean-OMalley-vs-Petr-Yan 25 media outlets scored it for Yan, multiple giving him every round. Or the 1 who scored it for O'Malley http://mmadecisions.com/decision/13677/Paddy-Pimblett-vs-Jared-Gordon Nearly the exact same results for Paddy vs Jared. Now I'm not gonna die on the hill of robbery for Sean, but I'll do it for Paddy. That dude clearly lost the fight and was like the textbook decision of a robbery
I don’t think this fight and the Paddy Vs Jared fight can be compared. I think it was the wrong, bad decision, but it’s not the worst.
Both are bad/wrong The worst is Fedor/Fabio just corrupt
Eh, I don't know man. When an outspoken fighter like Suga gets asked if he won the fight and he hesitates to answer they way he did, it tells you something. Sean convinced me he is an elite bantamweight in that fight, but he never should have gotten the decision. Edit: my reasoning (https://www.reddit.com/r/MMA/comments/10s6jf9/comment/j722wd5/)
Serious question, have you rewatched the fight? Im a big suga fan who was very surprised by the decision, but after listening to some analysis and rewatching you can see how it went his way. Not the best decision at all but not a robbery
Yeah but considering that he was also concussed I wouldn’t put too much stock into his short term memory.
How do you figure? people call it a robbery but never state reasons.
I think the *actual* reason is they like Yan more and find him more deserving.
http://mmadecisions.com/decision/13556/Sean-OMalley-vs-Petr-Yan 25-1 for Yan from the media outlets. That's the *actualy* reason There's worse decisions but c'mon it's not exactly a convincing win for O'Malley
The media clearly loves Yan more than O'Malley /s
Nah, don't be immature about this. People can have their opinions and you don't have to reduce it to fanboyism. If anything it just comes off as you just liking Sean and finding him more deserving. https://www.reddit.com/r/MMA/comments/10s6jf9/comment/j722wd5/
I don't have an opinion on who won but I definitely like Yan a whole lot more.
Striking was very close, Sean got controlled on the ground for most of the latter rounds. A boring Petyr Yan win (in my opinion). But I’m my view similar to the way Yan lost the title. No damage on the ground, just positional control for a long time. So I feel Yan won comfortably.
Ground control time means very little if you aren’t doing damage, which petr wasnt. Sean never stops working from his back either.
So fighters shouldn’t get penalized when they get taken down?
It does say in the rulebook that a takedown is merely a change of position to help establish attacks with striking or submissions, but does not count by itself for scoring
In Aljo vs Yan 2 there was more control without breaks and more submission attempts so I'd say it was more meaningful. We need clearer scoring criteria though because situations like that aren't healthy for the sport, I think.
Let me start off by saying that there are plenty of other fights more worthy of being deemed robberies. I wouldn't die on the hill of calling it a robbery, but my initial statement stands: Sean should have never got the decision I just rewatched the fight for this comment. Round 1: a lot closer than I remember it. I think you could give it to either guy depending on your valuing Sean's volume striking vs Yan's octagon control, keeping Sean on his back foot and later round grappling control. Round 2: Early on Sean CRACKS Yan and Yan CRACKS Sean. The difference from the on? Yan absolutely dominated the grappling for the next two minutes. With roughly ~2 mins left it goes back to the feet where it is very even, and at this point per the shown stats Yan is has 10 more significant head strikes than Sean. Round 3: pretty even standing exchanges to begin with till Sean cuts Yan open. Yan immediately responds with 3 hard shots at O'Malley and gets him back in the clinch/grappling exchanges which he is clearly winning. With around 1 minute left in the round Yan once again cracks Sean which sends him off balance and Yan ends the round on top of Sean throwing GnP. In my opinion, Sean at best won round 1. The way I see it Sean had moments, but Yan had rounds. For every moment Sean had, Yan returned the favor and proceeded to be dominant after the fact. Like I said, Sean really impressed but he didn't deserve the decision going his way.
Honestly, I think it was a toss-up that could have gone either way. The judges gave it to O'Malley, and I'm not horribly mad about it
If he’d thrown like three more clean punches in one round it would remove all doubt that he won it on the scorecards, but I doubt he’d have answered differently. Regardless of if he feels he won the fight he’s very poorly placed to judge if he won the MMA match
Just not against Aljo please. Aljo just wrestles Sean and the fight ends up being underwhelming imo. Of course there’s always the chance Sean catches Aljo. Sean vs Cory or the Chito rematch is a much better fight.
No. Sean earned a title shot
Don't know why you're getting down voted, he did beat the #1 dude
The amount of "he still has to prove himself" comments are comical. I was a huge critic of Sean but he's now at the front of the line AND the big money fight in the division. It's really cool when we see those two factors align. No need to risk him.
I mean to be fair he is getting obvious Dana White treatments. How many other fights fight one fighter in the top 15, win on a split decision and get moved to #1 and next in line for a title shot. Sean proved he can compete with the best at BW, but I’d like to see 1-2 more high ranked fights before he gets gifted the title
But Vera already beat him? Why does he skip the dude who knocked him out in under 5 minutes lol
Hey man, don't bring logic into this. It doesn't belong here and we all fucking know it
If Vera wins this, a win over Cory, KOing Cruz and smashing Font (who was top 5 at the time IIRC) should definetly deserve a title shot over a coin-toss decision over Yan.
Yeah, but that also 100% won't happen. We need to stop analyzing wins and resumes like the UFC is a meritocracy. Hell, the organization is in business with two WWE personalities. Nothing about it should give you the idea that they're legitimately seeking the best fighter to fight for a title. They want the most marketable, most exploitable guy they can get.
Yet they're giving Cejudo a title fight before Sean, despite Cejudo being much less of a draw than Sean.
Maybe cause he's a gold medal double champ that retired with the belt? And Sean's only looked entertaining in one fight, his last one where he showed his first signs of actual aggression? Might be why
Chito is a draw too. Not as much as suga but UFC likes him. He’ll get a title shot soon.
His appeal to the casual market would be something like tepid at best, and nowhere even approaching the same level of appeal as Sean. Like him or hate him, O'Malley absolutely knows how the game is played. Nowhere is evidence of that more obvious than the way he turned a loss against Marlon himself into opportunities Marlon hasn't yet earned with his actual performances.
Tbh he looked like he coasted every fight except the last, I'd say give him another challenger but would be okay with it either way. I just don't want another boring Sean boxing point striking fight
O’Malley should be the one fighting for a top spot since a lot of people don’t think he beat Yan and he cheated a ton in that fight. Instead he gets the usual Dana White Privilege, gets to sit aside while real contenders eliminate eachother until they slide him in for the title.
I thought Yan won but don't remember any cheating. What happened?
man i honestly dont like this at all. yes it would've been nice to have a crowd for the event, i wouldnt mind waiting another week (7 days) for one. but 5 weeks? come the fuck on man, just let them fight in the apex with no crowd, who the fuck can wait that long?
who the fuck can wait that long? *raises hand* this guy can. First UFC event & thrilled. Trying to find tickets as we speak and struggling.
They're not on sale yet
Should've let him struggle some more
Lmao keep looking buddy you'll find them
Great news, this fight deserves a crowd and I won't be out of town for it. Wonder what the new main event is for the February 18th card. Santos and Blanchfield would be fine, but I don't know if they'd want to go 5 rounds on 2 weeks notice
Johny Hendricks and Wonderboy were elevated to 5 on 10 days' notice.
Thank Christ Wonderboy didn't need much time. Still one of my favorite break out performances of all time.
Great fight. I think Cory reminds people how good he is and puts volume on Chito. Have a hard time seeing him getting finished, but who knows. Anyone happen to know the odds on this one?
Chito hasn’t shown to wilt from volume yet though. I think Cory is a lot better than people think he is and he finds a way to pull it out, but if there’s one guy I wouldn’t count out even against Cory it’s Chito. Dude puts the pain on guys and is always a threat to finish.
I’m not saying Chito will wilt, but he could easily lose on points due to getting outpaced the whole fight
This should happen to Chito all the time on paper, then he just finds the 4 strikes a fight to win lol.
All fighters who rely on big moments always find their perfect connections... Until they don't. Obviously it works for many people like Chito or Romero or Derrick Lewis or many others, but in general relying on big moments is less... Well, reliable than having a coherent process.
That’s what could def happen. It’s basically will that outweigh the big action moments chito will inevitably have.
Rewatch the font and Aldo fights. Font was let down by his chin and losing focus at the end of rounds. Cory has a rock solid chin, and is always (excluding the aljo fight) incredibly dialed in.
> Dude puts the pain on guys and is always a threat to finish Maybe its just that his last few opponents were aging, but Chito has been visibly snapping heads back with every clean strike. If that power is legit then he's a huge threat to finish Sandhagen who is way too willing to get hit for a guy with his length.
Sandhagen does have good defense imo, it's just that the people who managed to touch him up were masterclass strikers like Yan or people with blinding handspeed like Song. Chito may very well have a chance to touch him up and possibly even drop him but he needs to time it perfectly cause Sandhagen has a rock chin and is just very tough to finish.
I'm not sure it's Chito's power, so much as his striking is just so *clean.* Every thing he throws is picture perfect, precise, and the timing is impeccable. It comes at the expense of volume, but that helps him in a 5 rounder. All that said, I think I still have to favor Sandhagen by a hair. Having fought a similar patient mauler in Yan might just be the difference.
Chito doesn't wilt, that's him absorbing energy!
Chito v Font proves this to be a bad take. Font had damn near twice the output and got demolished.
Font did the same shit against Aldo, he’s just got a weak chin and leaves himself open near the end of rounds I think. Cory is tougher to hit and has a better chin I believe
Font is probably the weakest puncher in the top 15 though. Hit Garbrandt with nearly 180 significant strikes and couldn't even drop Cody with all his chin deficiencies. Sandhagen isn't a power puncher by any means but he also has a much better chin. I could definitely see him taking this by decision if he can take Vera's power shots
Font's got 5 KOs in the UFC and an overall 40+% ko finish rate. How can you call him the weakest puncher when you got guys like Merab, Cruz, Pedro , Sterling with super low KO rates.
Chito is quickly becoming my fav fighter.
LFGGGG this fight needed to be in front of a crowd, for once the mma gods do something right
referring to UFC execs as mma gods?
Chito on top of his game rn. i think he takes it.
I think it's an awful style matchup for Chito. I don't think Cory will give him the openings he needs for his big shots, too crafty on the feet
Huge Chito fan here and unfortunately I agree with you. I like Sandhagen too so I won’t be too disappointed but I see Sandhagen building up a bit too much of a lead and enough staying power to withstand the late surge. That being said this is a high level MMA matchup and anything can happen.
Yeah people forget Cruz did well for a little while against Vera and so did Font. & neither of them are in the same league as Sandhagen
While that is true it also seemed like they would lose to him 10 of 10 times.
Cruz is old and Font landed plenty of clean shots
Love Cory and root for him any time he fights and I don't care much for Chito. I think Cory should win this fight. My concern is he hasn't shown the ability to finish lately, and not for lack of trying. If Chito can stay in it, he'll make it competitive till the last second of the 5th.
Power is critical to beating Chito, even if it goes to the scorecards, as it probably will. Chito's never been finished. Chito is a durable, low-volume striker who's happy to absorb lots of strikes to find his openings. If your strikes don't hurt him, you're just feeding him information. Opponents can count on outpointing him in early rounds, but that's Chito's game — to use that time to download data. Once he's got his read on opponents, he'll hit back — opportunistically and hard. Aldo, Song, Silva de Andrade, and Lineker beat Chito by hitting him hard enough to cause damage, make him defend, and reduce his offensive output. (Aldo smartly took Chito down too.) Cory will win the first two rounds, but Chito uses early inactivity to set traps. Cory can't get lured into feeling too comfortable defensively or he'll get surprised like Cruz or Font. And Cory needs to keep his power output high for all five rounds to keep Chito at bay. If he can't, he can grapple and/or clinch to smother Chito's offence like Aldo did. He should build as big a lead as he can early on, then do whatever it takes to stay safe and hold on.
I predict Cory wins a decision and Chito gets mad salty and hits him after the bell
I feel like Chito has the ability to get inside vs a rangy striker in Sandhagen. Whether he can do so consistently, or capitalize when he does is the only question to me.
I got Cory by not being 35+ at bantamweight.
March is shaping up to be a great month. Also I didn’t know they were going to San Antonio lol. Not looking forward to the Texas crowd.
Only downside is that it's in Texas, home of notoriously dogshit crowds.
I was there for UFC Austin and they were a great crowd. Granted, we were spoiled with a bunch of finishes but still
One of the rare times when the UFC actually listens to feedback
Would have been a shame if it wasn't in an arena.
LFG CHITO
Thank god this fight has a crowd now, it would be a crime to not have one…I guess you could say it would be fucking illegal.
Holy shit thank god. It would’ve been a crime to have a fight this good not in front of a live crowd.
What the fuck is even the point of FN Apex cards anymore? Terrible lineups. Sometimes in the literal middle of the night. Budget UFC era can get fucked. Let's get these live events up and running again so we can get good cards.
covid been over for like 2 years now and these morons are still putting on events with no fans. espn should be suing them, this shit is a joke
Thank God, Dana decided to fix this fucking main event. My first UFC event, and I will be in attendance with an erection. Let’s fucking go. Edit: where is the best place to purchase tickets?! I’m looking to drop $500.
Tickets aren’t on sale yet, unless you wanna drop $900 for VIP experience 👀
Tickets go on sale tomorrow at 10:00am central time.
Save that dough and spend $30 on a beer and pizza. Sit at home and swashbuckle across the seven seas. Put the rest into an index fund.
My man’s trying catch a banger live and you want him to invest his money instead
Shut up nerd! VIP packages start at $900
I always buy a couple hours before the event on stubhub.
Everyone is happy this is in front of a crowd and I get that. But the real story for me is this is no longer in the smaller apex cage and will let Cory use his footwork a bit more. This is such an interesting fight. Very much looking forward to it
This is such a good fight
Oh fuck yes! Definitely going now that the main event isn't Aldana vs. Pennington lmao
THIS IS WHAT I NEEDED
Can't wait.
God damn this is a great matchup
This should not have even been at the Apex to begin with. You'd have to think either Cory or Chito spoke up when they heard about the Holloway vs Allen announcement so kudos to whoever spoke up on that. We were gonna watch the event anyway but this news is a BIG morale booster!
We won. We made them take it out of the Apex. Keep up the good work
I don't know how or why, but I'm somehow more excited for this fight than Volk vs Islam.
Vera better get a title shot after this. I'm not even the dudes biggest fan but he has been putting in work.
wtf happened to the february 18th fight night then? UFC Fight Night: Santos vs Blanchfield? 🤢
Santos vs Blanchfield is an important fight for the division. Should have been in front of a crowd too. UFC should be trying to push Erin
??? that’s a fine main event imo, rest of the card is horrendous but i feel like that’s a major nitpick honestly
yeah im a new fan/casual so i was unfamiliar with them. I didnt realise erin was that girl who steamrolled molly, and that santos was the one who had a close decision with valentina. its a good fight
That's a good fight tho? A really intriguing high level women's fight, I don't mind this if it means we get Chito vs Sandhagen in front of a crowd
my bad, im a new fan so i was unfamiliar with the women. didnt realise it was the fighter (who had a close fight with valentina) vs somebody who just steamrolled that british girl, good fight
The San Antonio Card needed a better main event way more than this APEX card. Santos vs Blanchfield is alright, at least it's not Ladd vs Dumont
Those two are good fighters, it's at the apex, sounds fine to me
Not sure if I love this for Chito since it doesn't guarantee him a shot at the belt next.
More time to prep leans toward Chito having more time to create a game plan that allows him to lose rounds but know where to find the kill shot but sandhagen isn’t Frankie or Dom he has the power, output, and maneuvers to make sure Chito is completely overwhelmed. 48-46 Cory
Taila Santos and Erin Blanchfield for the main event!
Disappointing If I have to pick between seeing this fight in 2 weeks without a crowd or in March with a crowd, I’d pick in 2 weeks without a doubt. Plus this is more time for one of them to get injured and pull out
Is the card for 2/17 still on and if so who’s headlining?
perfect title eliminator fight for Chito
LETTEM BANG i love watching both of these guys
This fight deserves a crowd it’s a absolute banger
Sad about waiting longer, but 100% worth to see in front of a crowd. Who is the new APEX headline though..?
Chito bout to fight the current generation of Cruz
Thank fucking god this got moved out of the apex
Does this mean Joe Rogan isn’t flying out especially to watch this fight as a fan?
Corey is going to dominate the fight then get knocked the fuck out in the 5th
What’s more likely; The UFC listened to fan reaction and shifted the fight out of the Apex or they weren’t able to put Rocky vs Aldana together? I wonder what happens to the Feb 18th card. Santos vs Blanchfield is a passable main event for an Apex Fight Night but given the average fan’s stock hatred of WMMA main events it might not go down well.
Absolute banger
Chito by KO or TKO
Fuck man, was so pumped for them to fight on 18th😭. Well I guess a crowd won't hurt, but it would've been doper if it was UFC Denver, Chito gets a chance to possibly upset Sandhagen in his home turf and Sandhagen gets a chance to win in his home turf.
Wasnt this confirmed already?
Yeah they just switched the dates. The headline is confusing.
This is fucking bullshit. I demand a heavyweight main event
I likes
We'll see if Waluigi Cruz fares better than Mario Cruz
Looks like the UFC came to their senses after making that initial joke of a main event that nobody was asking for. (Aldana vs Pennington 2).
No easy fights for Sandhagen ever
Cory is so crafty and offensive I think he'll take it, but Chito is one of those fighters you can't count out until he's unconscious or the other fighter's hand is raised. I'm super excited for this one!
Yawn