Everything You Need to Know About the Rivalry Between Cory Sandhagen and TJ Dillashaw

Published 07/20/2021, 6:30 AM EDT

Cory Sandhagen takes on a former friend in TJ Dillashaw in arguably his biggest test to date in the UFC. ‘Sandman’ will headline UFC Vegas 32 alongside the former champion Dillashaw in an epic bantamweight fight. Heading into the fight, there has been some amount of back and forth between the two men who used to be friends and training partners.

In an interview with James Lynch, ‘Sandman’ shed light on his relationship with Dillashaw. He said, “We were training partners, you know, like, we were sparring partners. We were buddies, not the closest of friends, we didn’t hangout outside of the gym but when we were in the gym we were friendly together. I would say it was the whole MusclePharm phase which probably lasted like three years, and he was maybe a part of it for 2 of ’em…So yeah, about 2 years”

What was once a cordial relationship between the two fighters, soured following Sandhagen’s call out. After his win over Edgar, ‘Sandman’ called out ‘cheater’ TJ Dillashaw he also went on to add, that Dillashaw was “coming off some of the most serious PEDs that you can do in the sport”

Although what Sandhagen said was not false, it rubbed the former champion the wrong way who plans to handle business this Saturday and the fight for the belt once again. Recent reports also suggest that Dillashaw had spies sent to Sandhagen’s camp to film a sparring session. Which will surely worsen the relationship between the two men further.

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Can TJ Dillashaw fight for the belt with a win over Sandhagen?

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TJ Dillashaw has been out for over two years. His last fight was in January 2019 against Henry Cejudo. The former champion is now 35-years old and is by no means past his prime. If he can secure an impressive win over Sandhagen, who is in red-hot form right now, he will catapult himself to the top of the bantamweight division.

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A post shared by TJ Dillashaw (@tjdillashaw)

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A win over Sandhagen might place him in a title eliminator or in a title fight altogether. A lot will depend on how he is able to secure a win against Sandhagen and the timeline for the rematch between Petr Yan and Aljamain Sterling.

What do you make of Dillashaw’s return? Do you think he can get the job done against Sandhagen? Let us know in the comments below!

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Kevin Binoy is an MMA author at EssentiallySports. He earned a Bachelor's degree from Fergusson College and has been covering sports professionally for over two years. Besides working with the MMA writing team, Kevin is a core member of the organization's web stories team and is responsible for delivering engaging MMA web stories.

Everything You Need to Know About the Rivalry Between Cory Sandhagen and TJ Dillashaw

Can TJ Dillashaw fight for the belt with a win over Sandhagen?

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