Cory Sandhagen on Mario Bautista rematch, lessons from title defeat, and a potential Sean O'Malley showdown

Cory Sandhagen has spent years hovering around the UFC bantamweight title picture without quite breaking through. He's challenged for championship gold twice, fallen short both times, and now finds himself back in familiar territory - needing another statement win in one of the promotion's deepest divisions. His assignment at International Fight Week is a familiar face. Seven years after submitting Mario Bautista in Bautista's third UFC appearance, Sandhagen meets him again in a fight that carries far greater consequences than their first meeting ever did. The matchup comes with contrasting narratives. Bautista has framed it as a wrestling advantage and vowed to chase a finish. Sandhagen isn't buying that assessment. In an exclusive conversation with Timesofindia.com, Sandhagen discusses how Bautista has evolved since their first meeting, why he dismisses the wrestling narrative, the lessons from his latest title defeat, and why he believes a showdown with Sean O'Malley makes the most sense if he gets past Bautista.

Excerpts:

This is a rematch with Mario after seven years. How different is he now compared to the debutant you faced in 2019? I think he's a much better fighter now. I think we both are. He's come a long way, and I think it's going to be a challenging fight.

Mario says he's hunting for the finish and sees this as a wrestling mismatch. How do you react to that kind of public assessment of the fight? I think Mario has shown almost no great offensive wrestling that I've seen. He got out-grappled by Umar by a much bigger margin. He was held down, whereas I got taken down a bunch of times but got back up right away every time. So I don't know what he's talking about.

What do you see as Mario's single biggest strength, and how do you plan to neutralize it? I think Mario's biggest strength is that he's a really hardworking guy. He has a lot of self-belief, and he doesn't quit. I plan on countering that by being the same, while also being more technical, more skilled, and more hardworking than him.

You've had spectacular finishes against guys like Edgar and Moraes, as well as tactical wins over opponents like Font. How do you decide, fight by fight, whether to go for fireworks or settle for a controlled win? You always try to win with fireworks, but sometimes the other guy does really good stuff and you're not able to get him out of there. That's just how it goes.

After UFC 320 [Merab Dvalishvili], you said the fight was absolutely winnable. What specifically went wrong, and how have you addressed it in preparation for Mario? I think if I had a better second round, I would have done well. There were also some technical mistakes that I made that are pretty easy to fix, and I think they would have changed the outcome of the fight. So it really came down to those technical mistakes and not getting hurt as badly in the second round.

You've been one of the top bantamweights for years. How much of this fight is about proving to yourself that you can still handle the new wave of fighters like Mario, not just the older contenders? I think I only have a few more fights than Mario, so I don't really see him as an up-and-coming guy. I think he's been in the UFC for quite some time now. Maybe I've only been in the UFC a year or two longer than him.

So I don't really see him as an up-and-coming fighter. I just see him as someone who hasn't been in as many big fights as I have and hasn't fought for titles yet. I think I'm simply more experienced, but I don't see him as a newcomer to the UFC.

Finally, if you win this fight, what do you think the UFC should book next? O'Malley, Merab again, or someone else? I think, realistically, I still have one more fight before I can fight for the title again. But the only fight the fans really want to see is me against O'Malley. Hopefully, it'll be that. If it's not O'Malley, then I'm open to anyone or any idea because I know I probably still have one more fight left. But if I beat Mario really decisively and do something crazy to win, that could change too. Realistically, though, I think I have one more fight, and I think it should be against O'Malley. I don't really know who else there would be.