Cory Sandhagen explains why he felt bad for Song Yadong at UFC Fight Night 210

LAS VEGAS – Cory Sandhagen doesn’t think the UFC Fight Night 210 ending warrants a rematch. It was a TKO caused by purposeful damage, after all.

However, a large part of him views the way things played out Saturday as unfortunate. The main event bout between Sandhagen (15-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) and Song Yadong (19-7-1 MMA, 8-2-1 UFC) at the UFC Apex ended in between the fourth and fifth rounds when a cut Yadong sustained early in the fight worsened to the point of a doctor stoppage.

“I felt like my eyes were still working, and my fifth round was going to be good – and I wanted to know that,” Sandhagen told MMA Junkie and other reporters at a post-fight news conference. “So that was kind of a bummer. These people I’m fighting, I feel like I have more in common with them than most people, so when I see something upsetting happen to them and the fight is over, I have a lot of compassion for that person. I know I’d be pretty bummed if I just had that happen to me. I feel a little bummed for Song. I’m going home the winner, because I cut him. I’ll take it.”

Overall, Sandhagen talked about the bout with a sense of accomplishment. The cut wasn’t a result of an unintentional clash of heads or a foul. It was an elbow that sliced Yadong open.

“Song’s a hell of a fighter, man,” Sandhagen said. “I knew that he was going to be super tough. The guy hits really hard. He defended the takedowns really well. I think I was starting to figure him out as the fight was going on, so I was really looking forward to a fifth round. I felt good. I felt fresh.”

Where he goes from here, he’ll largely leave up to the UFC. Unlike past fights, Sandhagen dipped his toe in the “callout” waters – though the two fighters he brought up were in more of a mention than any sort of lobby.

“As a martial artist, I try not to have many opinions about anything. I live in a way where I more or less try to go with the flow and let life give me opportunities and me take them. ‘Chito’ (Vera) or Merab (Dvalishvili) are the obvious names. Both of them pose very different challenges, two completely opposite fighters almost. I don’t really care, man. Give me one of them for Christmas.”

Vera (20-7-1 MMA, 14-6 UFC) is riding a four-fight winning streak that includes victories over Davey Grant, Frankie Edgar, Rob Font, and most recently a head kick knockout of former UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz.

Meanwhile, Dvalishvili (15-4 MMA, 8-2 UFC) defeated Jose Aldo at UFC 278. In doing so, he extended his winning streak to eight, which also includes wins over Marlon Moraes and Cody Stamann among others.

With the victory Saturday, Sandhagen snapped a two fight losing skid that consisted of unanimous, five-round decision losses to T.J. Dillashaw and Petr Yan.