“Give Cory the next title shot—dominant!” roared Brandon Royval after Cory Sandhagen dismantled former flyweight champ Deiveson Figueiredo. Showcasing his elite striking with a deep knowledge of grappling exchanges and positions, ‘The Sandman’ won a second-round technical knockout, as a result of ‘Deus da Guerra’ popping his knee trying to navigate a tricky position on the ground. This moment sent shockwaves through the fight world. After the emphatic win, Sandhagen made it clear—he’s not interested in anything but a shot at bantamweight gold. And Royval isn’t alone in echoing that sentiment.

Chiming in, Chael Sonnen also believes that Cory Sandhagen should be the frontrunner for the bantamweight title fight. While having a conversation with Daniel Cormier on the latest episode of Good Guy/ Bad Guy, ‘The American Gangster,’ stated that the MMA community had their faith in Sandhagen, “He opened at a five-to-one favorite. I mean, that is the audience truly believing that you can beat a former world champion. It surprised me that the crowd was that sure of it.

He further added, “And then, when the fight goes off, it’s exactly what the crowd thought—it was complete domination by Sandhagen. I just say that because if you beat a world champion, you fight for the world championship—not every time, but quite often. To go back to the fight, where Cory fought Umar Nurmagomedov— Cory did a lot of things very well. He gave up positions in wrestling, but not as much as people thought. People thought that would be a 25-minute affair.

Sandhagen’s last battle against Umar Nurmagomedov ended in defeat, and he was in desperate need to get back to the winning column. At UFC Des Moines, ‘The Sandman’ made a violent return to form on Saturday, dismantling the former flyweight champ within two rounds. Figueiredo’s knee was compromised as Sandhagen clinched a dominant victory. After the victory, ‘The Sandman’ is looking at the bantamweight title, but before that, he has a challenge in the shape of Petr Yan.

After listening to Sandhagen’s title fight rant, Petr Yan took to his Instagram and reshared a video of their fight, captioning it: “Cory, you were good yesterday, but don’t forget this fight. I’m the only one who truly deserves to fight for the title.” And, how did Sandhagen react to it? By resharing Yan’s story on his timeline with a caption that read, “You lost [to] both of them already! Our fight was in 2021, and I took it on short notice in front of your crowd. You know I’m next, old friend.”

The bantamweight belt will be on the line at UFC 316 when the champ,  Merab Dvalishvili, takes on the former champ Sean O’Malley in a rematch. Interestingly, Cory Sandhagen has agreed to fight Petr Yan in a title-contender eliminator fight. Let’s have a look at what Sandhagen has to say.

Cory Sandhagen is open to fighting Petr Yan in a rematch

Cory Sandhagen has expressed his desire to fight for the title, but his demand has been overshadowed by former bantamweight champion Petr Yan, who believes he deserves the title shot instead, given that he is ranked higher. As of May, Petr Yan holds the 4th spot in the rankings, with Cory Sandhagen positioned just below him. In order to bridge this gap, Sandhagen has proposed a clash between him and Yan.

While having a discussion with Helwani, ‘The Sandman’ emphasized, “Yeah, sure, I’m not going to commit to that until after the title fight. I’m not opposed to fighting Yan, I’d love to fight Yan. Especially because he likes spreading the narrative, like remember what happened last time we fought. Like, Yan, dude, I took that on four weeks’ notice, on your side of the country, in a fight I only had a month to get ready for, and he’s a really good fighter. You need more time.”

He further added, “And not to mention, I was winning that fight all the way up until I got hit with like that crazy spinny, weird s–t that he hit me with that I’ll never let him hit me with again. Let’s not act like that was like a one-sided fight because I was winning that fight until I got dropped at the end of the 3rd. If it means fighting Yan again, then for sure. But I mean, the title should be next for me.”

Cory Sandhagen and Petr Yan faced off at UFC 267 in 2021. After a hard-fought battle, Yan emerged victorious via unanimous decision. A rematch between these striking hotshots would sell like hotcakes for the promotion, but will Dana White book this fight in the future? State your opinion in the comments below.