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The bantamweight headliner on Saturday's UFC Vegas 32 featured a returning T. J. Dillashaw against top 135-pounds contender Cory Sandhagen at UFC Apex in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The two of them went to war for five rounds in the main event and T. J. Dillashaw walked away as the victor with a close split decision win (47-48, 48-47, 48-47).
This was the former two-time UFC bantamweight champion's first octagon appearance since he got suspended by USADA for testing positive for EPO following a brutal knockout defeat to Henry Cejudo. Dillashaw took a two-year suspension and voluntarily relinquished the belt that he held at that point in time.
Securing a win on his comeback, T. J. Dillashaw gave props to his opponent Cory Sandhagen in the post-fight interview with Daniel Cormier before announcing his re-arrival to the UFC bantamweight division.
"Man, I love Cory Sandhagen. I believed in that guy before he even believed in himself. Great opponent, great fight. Little sloppy on my end, but I pushed the pace, got the win, and guess what, daddy's home b*tches," an elated T. J. Dillashaw announced.
The win is going to put T. J. Dillashaw back in title contention as he just defeated the second-ranked contender. The UFC bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling is out of action currently owing to a surgery. It is anybody's guess at present whether the UFC will book Sterling for a rematch with Petr Yan upon his return or if someone like T. J. Dillashaw or the third-ranked Rob Font will get their shot at the gold first.
T. J. Dillashaw has already made it clear that he does not think much of the bantamweight champion by calling Aljamain Sterling a 'fake champ'. He believes he will be fighting Petr Yan for the UFC belt soon, and if not, he is ready to fight other top-five contenders to earn his title shot.
What happened in the Cory Sandhagen vs. T. J. Dillashaw fight at UFC Vegas 32?
T. J. Dillashaw started strong, taking the first round with a takedown and some hammerfists on the ground, but got warned by referee Herb Dean for grabbing the fence. Sandhagen came back stronger in the second round, cutting Dillashaw open above his right eyebrow. Dean stopped the fight to check the injury, but the fight continued without a snag. Dillashaw turned the tempo back up in the third round, with calf kicks and an easy takedown.
The battle continued for two more rounds as the contest got closer and closer to call. By the time the final bell rang, T. J. Dillashaw's face was a bleeding mess, but the scorecard in the end made the punishment he took worth all the trouble.
