Cory Sandhagen on watching Max Holloway knockout his training partner Justin Gaethje: “It took my breath away in kind of a negative way”

Cory Sandhagen has shared his thoughts on watching Max Holloway knockout his training partner Justin Gaethje at UFC 300.

It was on April 13th, at UFC 300 that Justin Gaethje (25-5 MMA) took on Max Holloway (25-7 MMA) in a lightweight bout with the BMF belt on the line. The result was a KO victory for ‘Blessed’ with one second left in the fifth and final round.

Cory Sandhagen, himself a bantamweight contender, had been working with Justin Gaethje to help him prepare for the UFC 300 bout, and was disappointed to say the least, in the outcome.

Speaking on ‘MightyCast’ with Demetrious Johnson, Sandhagen shared:

“Obviously, I care about him (Gaethje), so that was a bummer. It took my breath away in kind of a negative way and then like, I think Dana White described it as it sucked all the life out of the air, or whatever he said, but it did feel like all of the air just got sucked out of the room. That was my feeling man and then even all-day Sunday like I still felt like I was like, I don’t know, I just felt like weird after that one. It was incredible man.”

Continuing ‘Sandman’ spoke about Holloway saying:

“Honestly like Max is one of those guys that I really, really look up to. Not just as a fighter because he’s phenomenal and he’s been around forever but the way he interviews, the way he conducts himself, the way that I hear him speak about the sport and just the passion that he has for trying to figure out if he’s one of the best in the world.”

Concluding, Cory Sandhagen said he believes Max Holloway is an incredible fighter and ambassador for the sport (h/t MMANews):

“It’s absolutely inspiring and I try to learn as much as I can from Max Holloway because he’s just, I think he’s an incredible fighter one but also just an incredible ambassador. He’s figured out how to make himself like an awesome piece of artwork to also give back and I think that’s really cool.”  

Cory Sandhagen (17-4 MMA) is currently preparing to take on the undefeated Umar Nurmagomedov (17-0 MMA) on August 3rd at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi.

What do you think of Sandhagen’s comments regarding the BMF fight last month? Will you be watching him take on the undefeated Dagestan this summer? Any predictions?

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