Cory Sandhagen had to dig deep against Iuri Alcantara.
In his second octagon fight, Sandhagen faced dangerous submission artist Alcantara at UFC Fight Night 135 in August 2018.
Alcantara pressured Sandhagen with combinations, clipping him with a few solid ones, before dragging him to the mat. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu blackbelt immediately latched onto a triangle armbar which had Sandhagen in a world of trouble.
Somehow a bloodied up Sandhagen was able to gut it out and refused to tap. He escaped and started dropping big ground and pound on Alcantara, who barely escaped Round 1. However, the damage took a toll on Alcantara, who was dropped in the opening seconds of Round 2 and eventually finished on the ground by a relentless Sandhagen.
Since then, Sandhagen (14-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) has emerged as a top bantamweight contender, scoring notable wins over John Lineker, Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar. He returns to action Saturday when he takes on Song Yadong (19-6-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC) in the main event of UFC Fight Night 210, which takes place at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Before he faces Yadong, relive Sandhagen’s finish of Alcantara in the video above.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 210.
