Sandhagen, Holm win big in UFC Fight Night

MANILA, Philippines – “Stunning” is how you describe UFC Fight Night: Vera versus Sandhagen that was held at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas last Sunday.

American Cory Sandhagen hardly gave Ecuadorian Marlon “Chito” Vera a chance to find his groove in all five rounds en route to a split-decision victory in their bantamweight clash.

Switching stances and mixing up his attacks all fight long, Sandhagen peppered Vera with strikes and leg kicks.

In the very first round, with Vera guarding against the head shots, Sandhagen took him down to the canvas and rained down strikes and elbows. 

In need of taking the second round, Vera still looked unable to get into the groove as Sandhagen’s unorthodox style kept him guessing and reaching.

With Vera behind after three rounds, he pressed the attack and briefly rocked Sandhagen. But the American fighter answered with some crisp jabs.

By the fifth round, Vera needed a knockout to snatch victory, but Sandhagen backpedaled and danced around his foe, clearly frustrating Vera. 

Sandhagen climbed to 16-4-0 and is on a two-game win streak. Meanwhile, the loss stopped Vera’s five-match win streak and dropped the fighter to 20-8-1.

"I'm super grateful. It was a blast fighting in front of a crowd again. I'm sorry it wasn't a KO like you were expecting, but the dude's hard to hit. That's how you beat Chito; Chito's a good fighter,” said Sandhagen.

Sandhagen also used the opportunity to call out the number one challenger to Aljamain Sterling’s belt, Merab Dvalishvili.  

“[Calling out] Merab, you're hungry, I've got something for you to eat... and it doesn't taste good!"

The other key battle saw Holly Holm take a unanimous decision victory over Yana Santos in the women’s bantamweight division.

Holm, the former women’s bantamweight champion, took on sixthp-seeded Yana Santos, and the boxing champ showed her acumen in grappling. Santos made it a fast-paced and fun fight, but Holm's control throughout three rounds earned her the unanimous decision on the scorecards. 

Holm said, "You never know, I'm always trying to come up with something new. I'm happy to be back! I want to be able to adapt wherever the fight goes. I wanted to strike more, but she was holding tight, so I went to wrestle. [To return to champion] I've got to keep working hard."

Holm went to 15-6-0 while Santos dropped to 14-7-0. 

The gate attendance was announced at 16,076 for a sold-out show, with the UFC taking in $2.15 million at the gate.