Michael Bisping: Marlon Vera a slow starter by nature, and that really cost him vs. Cory Sandhagen

Michael Bisping thinks Marlon Vera needed to get going a lot sooner against Cory Sandhagen.

Vera (20-8-1 MMA, 14-7 UFC) dropped a split decision to Sandhagen (17-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) in this past Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 43 headliner in San Antonio, losing Rounds 1 and 2 on all three judges’ scorecards.

Vera is notorious for being a slow starter, but he’d been able to prevail regardless during a four-fight winning streak. But against Sandhagen, “Chito” appeared tentative and wasn’t able to rally with a finish.

“Marlon Vera took his time just like always,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “He is a slow starter by nature, and that really cost him tonight. Listen, I’m not taking away from Sandhagen. Sandhagen was sensational, certainly at the start.

“He forced the takedowns at the beginning, always got a smart game plan. He’s a very sophisticated fighter, sophisticated striker, did fantastic work, put it on ‘Chito’ right from the beginning. (Jason) Parillo was imploring Marlon, ‘Come on, you can’t go two rounds down’ and then he played catchup.”

Vera started to put his foot on the gas pedal in the latter rounds, but Sandhagen’s constant movement and varied attack with takedowns threw him off. Bisping credited his good friend Vera for showing a sense of urgency as the rounds went by, but acknowledged that it was too late.

“The first two rounds, Sandhagen got really far ahead,” Bisping said. “I think he was something like 120 strikes to 30 or something like that, and that’s what cost him the fight. Marlon just took his time. Parillo was like, ‘What is wrong with you? Is everything OK? Is there an issue? Something I need to know about?’ Marlon afterward said he was very flat. In the third round, he came alive. Certainly started to put more pressure on, started to land some shots, and I love ‘Chito.’

“He’s a good friend of mine, but he actually started to fight. Didn’t fight in Rounds 1 and 2. Round 4 did better, Round 5 did better, but it was too little too late. Sandhagen, you can’t do that. You can’t allow someone like that to get that kind of advantage. He moves so well, he overloads you with information. He’s constantly switching stances, throwing varied attacks, beautiful shots, beautiful jabs, fantastic uppercuts.”

For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 43.