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Short version: because around half of his opponents are recorded to have weighed in heavier than Sandhagen on fight night and height and length is not the same as size, because if that was the case, the giraffe - not the african elephant - would be the world's biggest extant land animal.
Long version, made with the help of the excellent thread named "Compilation of Fighters' Cage Weight (Redux)" by @acannxr:
In the thread named here, Sandhagen actually even has the 7th* lowest fight night weight out of the 30 people who fight or have fought in his division, meaning that of those listed, almost 80% are bigger than him.
Thus far, Cory Sandhagen, who has tipped the scales at 149.2 pounds on fight night at bantamweight, has faced the following people inside the UFC, with the guys whose names are fat being recorded as weighing in heavier than him at bantamweight:
- Austin Arnett (no numbers available)
- Iuri Alcantara (154.6 pounds)
- Mario Bautista (no numbers available)
- John Lineker (has missed weight at 135, though this is *not* definitive proof that he's a big 135er.)
- Raphael Assuncao (153.2 pounds)
- Aljamain Sterling (no numbers available)
- Marlon Moraes (155 pounds)
- Frankie Edgar (no numbers available)
- TJ Dillashaw (149.5 pounds)
*(Initially had Cory listed as the 6th lightest 135er on the list, but i did a mistake while counting)
Now of course it could be the case, that everyone i don't have the numbers for actually is a smaller 135er than Cory is, but consider this:
80% of the bantamweights we have numbers for have weighed in heavier than Sandhagen and regarding those he fought, they were either heavier, we don't have numbers for them, they missed weight, or even fought as much as two divisions above, though Frankie Edgar is in all fairness undersized for 155 and most likely even 145 by modern standards.
So what else is there to say?
I think the only instances in which the discussion about size are warranted is if a fighter weighs in notably heavier than his opponent(s) and/or his opponent(s) is only of comparable size due to noticably more body fat, with an extreme example of the latter being BJ Penn fighting Lyoto Machida (though it should be noted, that even a 191 pound BJ Penn was sign. smaller than Lyoto Machida, who weighed 225 pounds in their fight).
Other, partially less extreme examples would be BJ Penn at welterweight, Daniel Cormier at heavyweight and light heavyweight, Kelvin Gastelum at middleweight.
For those that are now tempted to say that both Daniel Cormier and Kelvin Gastelum have missed weight or struggled making it at light heavyweight and middleweight respectively:
For one, it is just easier to cut weight for some people than others (IIRC, Shane Burgos never missed weight at 145, yet Aldo often had trouble) and more importantly, Kelvin Gastelum and Daniel Cormier, would even at a body fat percentage that is considered average amongst fighters, absolutely be able to make welterweight/light heavyweight and this is with taking into consideration that they have wide shoulders and a large ribcage and thus a sturdy skeletal frame for their height.
Now i expect a lot of people to say or think something along the lines of "Okay, so he's not a size bully, whatever, but he's definitely a length bully!" to which i'll say the following:
In striking sports, it is generally accepted, that height and reach, in particular the latter, is always and clearly more of an advantage than a disadvantage, but this is in my opinion significantly less the case in mixed martial arts - certainly in regards to height - and considering that most champions have a long reach or at least a long reach for their height, but aren't necessarily tall for their divisions, this trend seems to reflect that.
Regardless of the fact that possible hypocrisy doesn't change the truth of statements, one should be consistent, so if you criticize Sandhagen for his length, you should do the same for Jon Jones, Israel Adesanya and other fighters, but then again, ask yourself the following:
Do you criticize Ngannou for his absurd power?
Do you criticize Garbrandt for his speed?
Do you criticize Usman for his cardio?
Do you criticize Nate Diaz for his chin?
Don't get me wrong, saying it's impressive when a "T-Rex armed" fighter beats the lengthy striker on the feet is both understandable and true and obviously it is advantageous in certain instances if you're long, especially in terms of reach, but if it was as such an advantage in MMA in general, we'd see much more lanky fighters, even with the small pool of talent of MMA taken into the equation.
Long arms and wide shoulders do mean that it's easier to hit an opponent without getting hit yourself, but it also comes at the cost of decreased strength (in other news, Jon Jones is bad at lateral raises) and with height it's not any different:
More height is advantageous in clinch positions and on the feet your opponent has to punch upwards and a longer distance, but more height (mostly) also means a higher centre of gravity which can negatively affect wrestling, decreased ability to duck and roll under punches and due to the fact that we have weight classes it also affects strength in general, since a guy who's taller than another guy can't endlessly put the same amount of muscle relative to his frame on as the other guy, which is why the strongest guys in a division are mostly of average or smaller height for their weightclass.
In regards to him being a "length bully", it is true that while his length overall is definitely an advantage, those attributes don't come at the expense of nothing either.
Bonus:
(PS: it has been said that i am "white knighting" Cory Sandhagen ever since his loss. This is absolutely true. All of it.)
Long version, made with the help of the excellent thread named "Compilation of Fighters' Cage Weight (Redux)" by @acannxr:
In the thread named here, Sandhagen actually even has the 7th* lowest fight night weight out of the 30 people who fight or have fought in his division, meaning that of those listed, almost 80% are bigger than him.
Thus far, Cory Sandhagen, who has tipped the scales at 149.2 pounds on fight night at bantamweight, has faced the following people inside the UFC, with the guys whose names are fat being recorded as weighing in heavier than him at bantamweight:
- Austin Arnett (no numbers available)
- Iuri Alcantara (154.6 pounds)
- Mario Bautista (no numbers available)
- John Lineker (has missed weight at 135, though this is *not* definitive proof that he's a big 135er.)
- Raphael Assuncao (153.2 pounds)
- Aljamain Sterling (no numbers available)
- Marlon Moraes (155 pounds)
- Frankie Edgar (no numbers available)
- TJ Dillashaw (149.5 pounds)
*(Initially had Cory listed as the 6th lightest 135er on the list, but i did a mistake while counting)
Now of course it could be the case, that everyone i don't have the numbers for actually is a smaller 135er than Cory is, but consider this:
80% of the bantamweights we have numbers for have weighed in heavier than Sandhagen and regarding those he fought, they were either heavier, we don't have numbers for them, they missed weight, or even fought as much as two divisions above, though Frankie Edgar is in all fairness undersized for 155 and most likely even 145 by modern standards.
So what else is there to say?
I think the only instances in which the discussion about size are warranted is if a fighter weighs in notably heavier than his opponent(s) and/or his opponent(s) is only of comparable size due to noticably more body fat, with an extreme example of the latter being BJ Penn fighting Lyoto Machida (though it should be noted, that even a 191 pound BJ Penn was sign. smaller than Lyoto Machida, who weighed 225 pounds in their fight).
Other, partially less extreme examples would be BJ Penn at welterweight, Daniel Cormier at heavyweight and light heavyweight, Kelvin Gastelum at middleweight.
For those that are now tempted to say that both Daniel Cormier and Kelvin Gastelum have missed weight or struggled making it at light heavyweight and middleweight respectively:
For one, it is just easier to cut weight for some people than others (IIRC, Shane Burgos never missed weight at 145, yet Aldo often had trouble) and more importantly, Kelvin Gastelum and Daniel Cormier, would even at a body fat percentage that is considered average amongst fighters, absolutely be able to make welterweight/light heavyweight and this is with taking into consideration that they have wide shoulders and a large ribcage and thus a sturdy skeletal frame for their height.
Now i expect a lot of people to say or think something along the lines of "Okay, so he's not a size bully, whatever, but he's definitely a length bully!" to which i'll say the following:
In striking sports, it is generally accepted, that height and reach, in particular the latter, is always and clearly more of an advantage than a disadvantage, but this is in my opinion significantly less the case in mixed martial arts - certainly in regards to height - and considering that most champions have a long reach or at least a long reach for their height, but aren't necessarily tall for their divisions, this trend seems to reflect that.
Regardless of the fact that possible hypocrisy doesn't change the truth of statements, one should be consistent, so if you criticize Sandhagen for his length, you should do the same for Jon Jones, Israel Adesanya and other fighters, but then again, ask yourself the following:
Do you criticize Ngannou for his absurd power?
Do you criticize Garbrandt for his speed?
Do you criticize Usman for his cardio?
Do you criticize Nate Diaz for his chin?
Don't get me wrong, saying it's impressive when a "T-Rex armed" fighter beats the lengthy striker on the feet is both understandable and true and obviously it is advantageous in certain instances if you're long, especially in terms of reach, but if it was as such an advantage in MMA in general, we'd see much more lanky fighters, even with the small pool of talent of MMA taken into the equation.
Long arms and wide shoulders do mean that it's easier to hit an opponent without getting hit yourself, but it also comes at the cost of decreased strength (in other news, Jon Jones is bad at lateral raises) and with height it's not any different:
More height is advantageous in clinch positions and on the feet your opponent has to punch upwards and a longer distance, but more height (mostly) also means a higher centre of gravity which can negatively affect wrestling, decreased ability to duck and roll under punches and due to the fact that we have weight classes it also affects strength in general, since a guy who's taller than another guy can't endlessly put the same amount of muscle relative to his frame on as the other guy, which is why the strongest guys in a division are mostly of average or smaller height for their weightclass.
Conclusion/TL;DR:
Cory Sandhagen seems to be one of the smaller bantamweights, hence is not a size bully, judging by the data we have.In regards to him being a "length bully", it is true that while his length overall is definitely an advantage, those attributes don't come at the expense of nothing either.
Bonus:
Some bantamweights with a longer reach than Cory Sandhagen (who has a 70"/178 cm reach):
Andre Ewell - 75" (190 cm)
Rob Font - 71" (180 cm)
Kyler Phillips - 72" (183 cm)
Sean O'Malley - 72" (183 cm)
Andre Ewell - 75" (190 cm)
Rob Font - 71" (180 cm)
Kyler Phillips - 72" (183 cm)
Sean O'Malley - 72" (183 cm)
(PS: it has been said that i am "white knighting" Cory Sandhagen ever since his loss. This is absolutely true. All of it.)
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