Henry Cejudo doesn’t think Marlon Vera has the skill set to beat Cory Sandhagen.
Vera (20-7-1 MMA, 14-6 UFC) meets Sandhagen (15-4 MMA, 8-3 UFC) on Feb. 18 at a UFC Fight Night headliner at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
Cejudo sees Vera having success if he can mix things up with takedowns, but isn’t sure if he’ll be able to.
“This is a great fight for the bantamweight division,” Cejudo said on his YouTube channel. “First of all, I’d like to start off with breaking down their strengths. Marlon Vera – he switches (to) southpaw, but a lot of times where he’s had success, has been from the southpaw position, whether it’s him knocking people out with that leg kick or throwing things up the middle in the same way that he caught Frankie Edgar. ‘Chito’ Vera is pretty diverse in some ways, but I still don’t know if he knows how to mix his fighting quite yet.
“If he does get taken down by Sandhagen, this is where he could shine because he has the ability to be able to hit from bottom and transition a lot of things from his back. Those are some of his greatest assets he does have. But he is going up against a guy like Cory Sandhagen, a guy with unpredictable striking that throws jumping knees, likes to go to the body – a guy who’s slowly getting better. But there is one thing Cory doesn’t have, and that is the missing piece which is called wrestling. If you can’t outwrestle Cory Sandhagen, you’re in trouble.”
Sandhagen’s sharp striking has given plenty of bantamweights issues, and though Vera is a proven finisher in the division, Cejudo insists Vera’s path to victory is on the ground.
“When it comes to the grappling aspect of them being top and bottom, they’re both pretty even,” Cejudo said. “But if you can’t outwrestle Cory Sandhagen, you’re in trouble. For ‘Chito’ Vera, I think he’s just a journeyman. They’ve only reached a certain point. They can only take it to a certain point. If I had to bet my money somewhere, I have Cory Sandhagen by either stoppage or winning by unanimous decision.
“‘Chito’ Vera is a durable guy that can last for five rounds. He’s tough, and that’s his greatest asset – the fact that he does have that will. The only way you beat Cory Sandhagen is if you wrestle him or you out-will him. I just don’t think Vera’s skill set and his will is good enough for a guy like Cory.”
