Petr Yan and Cory Sandhagen face off on Saturday for the interim bantamweight title at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. Yan is currently ranked 1st in the division while Sandhagen is ranked 3rd.
Petr “No Mercy” Yan comes into this fight with a 15-2 record overall and he has won seven of their last eight fights. The one loss for Yan came in his last fight against Aljamain Sterling by DQ. Yan looked good in that fight, before an illegal knee saw the fight come to the end. This fight was supposed to be a rematch against Sterling, but he pulled out and Sandhagen took his spot. Yan is averaging 5.99 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 3.55 significant strikes per minute. Yan likes to get the fight to the ground averaging 2,14 takedowns every 15 minutes and he is successful on 66 percent of is takedown attempts. Yan also stops 90 percent of his opponents takedown attempts.
Cory Sandhagen comes into this fight with a 14-3 record overall but he did lose his last fight against TJ Dillashaw. Sandhagen was competitive that fight but ended up losing by split decision. Sandhagen is averaging 6.32 significant strikes per minute while absorbing 4.05 significant strikes per minute. Mostly he likes to keep the fight on the feet but he is averaging 0.74 successful takedowns every 15 minutes. He is successful on 44 percent of his attempts and stops 65 percent of his opponents takedown attempts. In this fight, if he wants to come away with a victory he needs to be the one giving out the damage early, not receiving. A slow start for Sandhagen would be very bad news.
These are both fighters that like to stay busy, and this should be a high paced exciting fight for the fans. In terms of who will win, I don’t think Yan has a whole lot of trouble getting the job done. Yan is going get the fight out to a fast start, and he is going to take home the belt. This should be a pretty convincing win and back Yan on the money line.
AUTHOR: Shane Mickle
Mitch's Take...
