Cory Sandhagen details what Aljamain Sterling should do different in rematch with Petr Yan at UFC 273

UFC bantamweight Cory Sandhagen has given his thoughts on what Aljamain Sterling needs to do differently in his Petr Yan rematch.

While he may not have held a title in the UFC, Cory Sandhagen is still one of the most impressive bantamweight fighters out there. He’s been involved in some incredibly intriguing match-ups throughout the course of his run with the promotion and in that time, he’s come face to face with both Aljamain Sterling and Petr Yan.

The Sterling fight was over pretty quickly as “Funk Master” secured a nice submission win. In the Yan meeting, though, Sandhagen took him to a decision before “No Mercy” got his hand raised.

With Sterling vs Yan 2 fast approaching at UFC 273, Sandhagen spoke in a recent interview about what the champion needs to change if he wants to retain his belt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a418C-e0i5Y

“If I was him (Sterling), I would definitely change the pace that I was fighting,” Sandhagen said. “It was a little bit chaotic, but it also threw Yan off a lot too so that was a positive that came from that, but you saw in the later rounds that was definitely not going to be something that would have benefitted him in Rounds 4 and 5. If I was Sterling, I would definitely change the pace of the fight.

“I would not try and make it as frantic as he kind of made it in the first one and then if I was Yan, I would probably do the exact same thing that he did in the first one because if Aljamain slows down the pace, that just means that Yan gets to fight at a less chaotic pace which I think Yan does really well in so yeah they both definitely have some corrections to make.”

Quotes via MMA Junkie

Do you agree with Cory Sandhagen’s assessment ahead of UFC 273?