Dana White doesn’t understand how Cory Sandhagen vs. Marlon Vera was a split decision.
Sandhagen used his wrestling early and then pieced up Vera on the feet as ‘Chito’ just couldn’t get going. In the fifth round, some thought Sandhagen had won all four rounds so when the final bell rang, many were confident Sandhagen would get the decision to win. Yet, one judge scored it for Vera which White says was scary as he thinks it could’ve been 50-45 for Sandhagen.
Dana White On The Scorecard For Chito Vera Over Cory Sandhagen
“I was literally coming out of the bathroom and I was like, ‘What the f***?’” White said at the UFC San Antonio post-fight press conference about the main event. “Were you surprised? It could have been 5-0, it could have been [4-1], but split? Wow, that’s pretty scary.”
Although it was a split decision – White says Sandhagen had a great performance as he dominated Vera by using his footwork and takedowns.
“[Sandhagen] looked incredible,” White said. “He shut him down. Incredible footwork. Lateral movement. Takedowns. He had it all.”
However, Dana White also believes Marlon Vera’s slow start played a role as to why Cory Sandhagen was able to dominate from the get-go.
“Chito, to me, looked really slow in the [Dominick] Cruz fight right up until he caught him and knocked him out,” White said. “So I was kind of waiting for that last two rounds and even his corner said to him, ‘You’ve got two rounds to finish this guy. You need to finish this fight.’”
Cory Sandhagen (16-4) is now on a two-fight winning streak as before the win over Vera, he scored a TKO doctor stoppage win over Song Yadong. Prior to that, he suffered a decision loss to Petr Yan for the interim belt after losing a split decision to TJ Dillashaw. Sandhagen is 9-3 in the UFC with notable wins over Frankie Edgar, Marlon Moraes, Raphael Assuncao, and John Lineker among others.
Marlon Vera (20-8-1) had his four-fight losing skid last time out as he dropped a decision to Sandhagen at UFC San Antonio. Before that, he knocked out Dominick Cruz, beat Rob Font by decision, KO’d Frankie Edgar, and beat Davye Grant.
