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The UFC is once again back at its APEX center this weekend for UFC Vegas 32: Cory Sandhagen vs. TJ Dillashaw.
UFC Vegas 32’s main event of Cory Sandhagen vs. TJ Dillashaw is a long time in the making. It is one of the promotion’s best upcoming fights, and the undercard isn’t bad either.
So with thirteen fights on tap all told, this one should hopefully be another exciting event from the UFC in 2021.
Here are the predicted outcomes for UFC Vegas 32: Cory Sandhagen vs. TJ Dillashaw.
#4. UFC bantamweight division: Cory Sandhagen vs. TJ Dillashaw
Initially set for April, only to be postponed when Dillashaw suffered a serious cut in training, this fight sounds genuinely fantastic on paper. It pits two of the world’s best bantamweights against one another.
With any hope - if the UFC can finally book a rematch between current UFC bantamweight champ Aljamain Sterling and former champ Petr Yan - the winner here should be primed for the next title shot.
Dillashaw is, of course, a former UFC bantamweight champion in his own right. In fact, he’s probably got a fair claim to being the greatest 135lber in UFC history thanks to his wins over Renan Barao and Cody Garbrandt amongst others.
Once considered a wrestler by trade, Dillashaw’s training with famed coach Duane ‘Bang’ Ludwig allowed him to develop an incredible combination-based striking game. At this stage, he’s basically got no weaknesses.
Of course, the elephant in the room is the reason why he hasn’t fought since January 2019.
Following a risky drop to 125lbs and a failed quest to win the UFC flyweight title, a positive test for the banned substance EPO – made famous by cyclist Lance Armstrong – saw him suspended by USADA for two years.
Whether Dillashaw’s initial run to the top of the bantamweight division was fuelled by PEDs is now a fair question. However, it might be a question that’s tricky to answer right away. After all, how good is he likely to look after two years on the shelf?
The UFC have certainly not handed him a softball, either. Sandhagen has lost just once in eight visits to the octagon – a one-sided submission loss to Sterling last summer. Sandhagen is coming off two of the most memorable UFC knockouts in a long time over Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar.
In many aspects, these two fighters are quite similar. They both have excellent wrestling and are capable grapplers, although Dillashaw probably has a slight advantage in that area. On the feet, both men possess heavy power and have excellent fundamentals.
If Dillashaw comes back in the same form prior to his loss to Henry Cejudo, if this fight remains on the feet, it could be anyone’s. Fans might question Dillashaw’s chin after that loss to Cejudo but, to be fair, that knockout could’ve been caused by his horrific weight cut to 125lbs.
So if it remains standing, it’ll probably come down to whether Sandhagen can land the big shot. If not, it'll be whether or not he can keep up with Dillashaw’s slick combination style. The red flag for ‘The Sandman’, however, is that loss to Sterling.
Sandhagen had shown solid grappling prior to that, but Sterling made him look like an amateur with a move – snaking onto the back with a body triangle – that Dillashaw has used in the octagon several times.
So with that in mind, the best path to victory for the former champion might be to take this fight to the ground. That gives him an advantage, and so the pick to win this one is Dillashaw via submission.
The Pick: Dillashaw via first round submission
#3. UFC bantamweight division: Aspen Ladd vs. Macy Chiasson
The thin nature of the UFC’s female bantamweight division means that no fighter is that far away from a crack at current champ Amanda Nunes. Therefore, either Aspen Ladd or Macy Chiasson could easily end up in a title fight or a top contender’s fight with a win here.
Of the two, Ladd is the most credentialed. A UFC fighter since 2017, Ladd was marked as a hot prospect when she first emerged in Invicta FC back in 2015.
Since then, she’s beaten high-level fighters such as Tonya Evinger and Yana Kunitskaya. A freak knockout at the hands of Germaine de Randamie is her only loss.
Ladd’s greatest strength is her sheer aggression inside the octagon. She’s not the best striker or wrestler, but she’s relentless with her takedowns. If she can get an opponent down, she basically looks to hammer on them until they can’t take any more. The fact that just two of her nine MMA wins have gone the distance says a lot.
The biggest issue for her against TUF 28 winner Chiasson is how she’s going to deal with her opponent’s size. Chiasson stands at 5’9” and boasts a 72” reach, giving her three inches of height and six inches of reach on Ladd.
She’s also looked good in her UFC career to date, winning five of her six octagon appearances. However, it’s safe to say that she hasn’t faced the kind of competition that Ladd has just yet.
Interestingly enough, both women have clear paths to victory here. Chiasson will likely look to land a big shot and knock Ladd out as de Randamie did. Ladd, meanwhile, will hope to use the same gameplan that handed Chiasson her only UFC loss – take her down and beat her up.
The issue, though, is that while Chiasson will require Ladd to make a massive error to land that big shot, the gameplan required to beat Chiasson is Ladd’s bread and butter.
So assuming she doesn’t charge in with her hands down, Ladd should be able to close the distance and tie Chiasson up. From there, Ladd can take her down and dish out her trademark ground-and-pound to seal a win.
The Pick: Ladd via second round TKO
#2. UFC Vegas 32: The Main Card
In a UFC bantamweight fight, Kyler Phillips faces Raulian Paiva. Both of these men have been on solid winning runs. With 20 wins to his name, Paiva is clearly the more experienced fighter. In fact, he’s got more wins than Phillips has fights.
However, he doesn’t have any win to match Phillips’ last one over Song Yadong. That fight saw ‘The Matrix’ unleash a tremendous striking game that threw the Chinese star off entirely, leading to a decision win for Phillips. If Paiva can get Phillips down then he could have some success. However, it feels more likely that ‘The Matrix’ will pick him apart for another decision win.
At featherweight, Darren Elkins takes on Darrick Minner. A clash of two experienced, workmanlike fighters, this one could probably go either way. Despite a lengthy 26-11 record, Minner simply hasn’t fought the kind of competition that Elkins has.
Elkins is clearly on the downswing of his career now – his loss to Nate Landwehr was probably the worst display of his UFC career – but against a fellow grappler like Minner, he should have enough to grind out a decision.
In a flyweight bout, two hot prospects meet as Miranda Maverick takes on Maycee Barber. Quite why the UFC hasn’t kept these two apart is anyone’s guess, but here we are. Of the two, Maverick has been on better form – winning both of her UFC fights impressively, while Barber hasn’t quite looked the same since her serious knee injury against Roxanne Modafferi.
Barber can win this fight if she keeps things standing and unleashes her hands, as she’s got some serious power and is solid from a technical standpoint too. But if the fight leaves the first round, then ‘The Future’ may be in trouble. Overall this could go either way, but Maverick by decision is the pick.
Finally, Mickey Gall faces Jordan Williams in a welterweight bout. Gall hasn’t quite reached the potential he showed in his early UFC days, but it’s probably fair to say that he’s only lost to higher level fighters, too. Williams looks like a fairer opponent for him and, based on what he’s shown in the UFC, Gall may be able to outgrapple him. Therefore, Gall by submission is the pick.
#1. UFC Vegas 32: The Prelims
Picks in bold
UFC middleweight division: Punahele Soriano vs. Brendan Allen
UFC heavyweight division: Shamil Abdurakhimov vs. Chris Daukaus
UFC middleweight division: Nassourdine Imavov vs. Ian Heinisch
UFC bantamweight division: Randy Costa vs. Adrian Yanez
UFC bantamweight division: Julio Arce vs. Andre Ewell
UFC flyweight division: Sijara Eubanks vs. Elise Reed
UFC strawweight division: Diana Belbita vs. Hannah Goldy
