Vera vs Sandhagen

Who won Vera vs Sandhagen?

Cory Sandhagen beat Marlon Vera by split decision in their 5 round contest during the main event of UFC Fight Night San Antonio, on Saturday 25th March 2023 at AT&T Center in San Antonio.

The scorecards were announced as 48-47, 50-45, 49-46 in favor of the winner Cory Sandhagen.

The fight was scheduled to take place over 5 rounds in the Bantamweight division, which meant the weight limit was 135 pounds (9.6 stone or 61.2 KG).

Vera vs Sandhagen stats

Marlon Vera stepped into the octagon with a record of 20 wins, 7 losses and 1 draw, 8 of those wins coming by the way of knock out and 8 by submission.

Cory Sandhagen made his way to the cage with a record of 15 wins, 4 losses and 0 draws, 7 of those wins coming by knock out and 3 by submission.

Marlon Vera's UFC record stood at 15-8-0, while Cory Sandhagen's came in at 10-3-0.

The stats suggested Sandhagen had a slight advantage in power over Vera, with a 47% knock out percentage over Vera's 40%.

If the fight went to the ground, their records suggested Vera had an advantage over Sandhagen, with a 40% submission rate over Sandhagen's 20%.

Marlon Vera was the younger man by 1 year, at 31 years old.

Sandhagen had a height advantage of 3 inches over Vera. Despite this, both fighters had a equal reach.

Vera was the more experienced professional fighter, having had 9 more fights, and made his debut in 2011, 3 years and 11 months earlier than Sandhagen, whose first professional fight was in 2015. He had fought 29 more professional rounds, 84 to Sandhagen's 55.

Vera vs Sandhagen form

Vera had beaten 3 of his last 5 opponents, stopping 1 of them, going to the judges twice.

In his last fight leading up to this contest, he had lost to Sean O’Malley at UFC 299 on 9th March 2024 by unanimous decision in their UFC Bantamweight championship fight at Kaseya Center, Miami, United States.

Previous to that, he had won against Pedro Munhoz at UFC 292 on 19th August 2023 by unanimous decision in their 3 round contest at TD Garden, Boston.

Going into that contest, he had been beaten by Cory Sandhagen at UFC Fight Night San Antonio on 25th March 2023 by split decision in their 5 round contest at AT&T Center, San Antonio.

Before that, he had beaten Dominick Cruz at UFC Fight Night: Vera vs. Cruz on 13th August 2022 by knockout in the 4th round at Pechanga Arena, San Diego.

He had defeated Rob Font at UFC Fight Night: Font vs. Vera on 30th April 2022 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

Cory Sandhagen had stopped 3 of his last 5 opponents.

In his last fight before this contest, he was victorious against Yadong Song at UFC Fight Night: Sandhagen vs. Song on 17th September 2022 by knockout in the 4th round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas, United States.

Previous to that, he had been defeated by Petr Yan at UFC 267 on 30th October 2021 by unanimous decision in their 5 round contest.

Going into that contest, he had lost to T.J. Dillashaw at UFC Vegas 32 on 24th July 2021 by split decision in their 5 round contest at UFC APEX, Las Vegas, United States.

Before that, he had won against Frankie Edgar at UFC Vegas 18 on 6th February 2021 by knockout in the 1st round at UFC APEX, Las Vegas.

He had beaten Marlon Moraes at UFC Fight Island 5 on 10th October 2020 by knockout in the 2nd round at UFC Fight Island, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Activity check

In terms of activity leading into the fight, Marlon Vera had been fighting more than Cory Sandhagen.

Going to this contest, Marlon Vera had last fought 1 month and 26 days ago, while Cory Sandhagen's last outing had been 1 year, 7 months and 18 days ago.

Vera's last 5 fights had come over a period of 2 years and 5 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 4 months and 27 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 22 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 4.4 rounds on average.

Sandhagen's last 5 fights had come over a period of 3 years, 6 months and 25 days, meaning he had been fighting on average every 8 months and 17 days. In those fights, he fought a total of 17 rounds, meaning that they had lasted 3.4 rounds on average.

What were the odds on Vera vs Sandhagen?

Marlon Vera was a 13/10 (+160) underdog going into the contest, while Cory Sandhagen made his way into the ring at 8/13 (-190) with oddsmakers.