Cory Sandhagen on Aljamain Sterling vs. TJ Dillashaw: “I have Aljamain kind of picked in this one”

Cory Sandhagen has shared his thoughts on the upcoming UFC Bantamweight Championship fight between titleholder Aljamain Sterling and TJ Dillashaw.

Sterling is set to put his 135-pound gold on the line against Dillashaw at UFC 280 on September 22. The action will be held inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. The main event will feature a UFC Lightweight Championship bout between Charles Oliveira and Islam Makhachev.

Ahead of Sterling vs. Dillashaw, Sandhagen, who is the number four-ranked UFC bantamweight, weighed in on the title fight. He shared his prediction with Damon Martin of MMAFighting.

“I definitely would not count out Aljamain at all,” Sandhagen said. “Honestly, I have Aljamain kind of picked in this one. Not a prediction guy but most of the time it’s because I don’t think about the fights but this one I actually spent some time thinking about because I have to see Duane [Ludwig] around at local fights, we’re both in Colorado, so I’ve kind of been like ‘how’s that fight going to go?’ I have a lot of respect for Duane. On some level I still have some respect for T.J. He was kind of my friend for a couple years.

“I’ve given it some thought and actually think that Sterling is just going to be able to do what he does. I think that he’ll be able to take T.J. down and I think that he’ll probably be able to submit him if he can get on his back.”

Sandhagen is riding high after rebounding from his interim UFC Bantamweight Title fight against Petr Yan back in October 2021. Sandhagen scored a fourth-round TKO victory over Song Yadong in the UFC Vegas 60 headliner.