Cory Sandhagen has gotten worse

[JustBleed69]

Over time Sandhagen has gotten worse as a fighter. His grappling has definitely improved a lot since the Aljo & TJ fights, however, his striking offense has become extremely muted.

Watching his early UFC fights he was a movement heavy volume boxer-striker that would overwhelm guys with his offense. He had great boxing; I loved watching him jab, work the body, the go back upstairs, and so on.

Now he tends to play it pretty safe, stay in kick boxing range, throw low kicks, & mix in some reactive takedowns. He is just overall way less offensive than he once was & I think it has ultimately cost him at times.

He's definitely one of the more cerebral types in his approach to the game that I can absolutely appreciate, but sometimes I think over-analyzing it can lead to worse results at the end of the day.

What do you guys think?

 

[GordonMMARamsey]

Gives me a Rose vibe. So much talent, but we just don't see him using it.

 

[Megatronlee]

Yeh he’s past his prime.


Y’all saw how aljo did him

 

[BigTruck]

It happens to literally everyone, you get better then you decline.

 

[Harlekin]

He just prepared for a grappling heavy match. Which is why he did less striking in training camp.
His footwork looked improved and he was wary of the takedown.
Also he is only fighting killers. As a lanky 32 he is in his prime right now.

 

[H41ph_84k3d]

I feel Sherdog needs an emoji of this dude.

 

[ArtardFiesta]

his grappling cost him against tj and then he decided to work on that.

against a grappler he ins't good enough.

in striking he can go to to toe with omalley but will likley grapple him. the ufc doesn't want to give him a title shot because of that

 

[Brigfa2]

He was never good!

 

[Doctor Grudge]

I don't think he got worse, but he did become a more boring and safe fighter.

His wrestling and grappling have drastically improved over the last few years, and it showed against Umar.

Cory doesn't really have a great way of finishing elite opponents though. To be fair, he probably deserved a title shot instead of fighting Umar, maybe he does better against O'Malley.

 

[legcramp]

His grappling defense was on point, he just needed more striking volume in the Umar fight.

 

[Morning Star]

He doesn't have the power to be a low volume guy like on Saturday. Outside of his leg kicks nothing he did had any effect.

 

[Portland8242]

I feel Sherdog needs an emoji of this dude.

You just ruined my theory on the flinch test after Leon tried flinch testing Belal and got mogged.

 

[contrail]

He's had a couple injuries since the "peak" you're talking about, and those are just the ones publicly disclosed. Guys can also become more risk-averse when losing big fights to controversial decisions (v Dillashaw).

 

[TriangleMonkey]

He’s fighting grapplers geesh

 

[Substance Abuse]

No. He has not.

 

[Lawrence]

Gives me a Rose vibe. So much talent, but we just don't see him using it.

Wow... I made the exact same connection.

Following a game plan with absolute discipline even if it leads to defeat. And I'm not throwing shade on either fighter...

I do think if either fighter was "forced" into a fire fight they would respond magnificently... But opponents know that and avoid it.

Dude responded well on the ground and really had his opponent frustrated... But standing was surprisingly conservative and led to minimal damage.

Blaming the corners and game planning... It could be cured but probably won't be for either fighter.

 

[filthybliss]

Over time Sandhagen has gotten worse as a fighter. His grappling has definitely improved a lot since the Aljo & TJ fights, however, his striking offense has become extremely muted.

Watching his early UFC fights he was a movement heavy volume boxer-striker that would overwhelm guys with his offense. He had great boxing; I loved watching him jab, work the body, the go back upstairs, and so on.

Now he tends to play it pretty safe, stay in kick boxing range, throw low kicks, & mix in some reactive takedowns. He is just overall way less offensive than he once was & I think it has ultimately cost him at times.

He's definitely one of the more cerebral types in his approach to the game that I can absolutely appreciate, but sometimes I think overthinking it can lead to worse results at the end of the day.

What do you guys think?

Umar deserves his flowers...I really didn't think Sandhagen was ever going to hold the belt, he is a top 3 guy in the division at his best.

 

[Gladiator24]

He’s never been that good as people made him out to be. A good fighter not a great one

 

[Kyojiro Kagenuma]

Gives me a Rose vibe. So much talent, but we just don't see him using it.

Except Rose is a two time champion with two title defenses. She's lived up to her potential way more than Cory

 

[Motivated BJ Penn]

He has no killer instinct, down 4 rounds and still playing it safe...