Cory Sandhagen was all class following his closely-contested loss to Petr Yan in the UFC 267 co-main event.
Though Sandhagen outlanded Yan by a 169-to-149 count in significant strikes, his Russian opponent connected with the more damaging blows over the course of five rounds – including the bout’s only knockdown. Sandhagen did his best work in Round 1, but couldn’t duplicate that effort consistently enough to get the nod from the cageside judges.
In the immediate aftermath, Sandhagen had no issues with the final verdict.
“He’s a hell of a fighter, man,” Sandhagen said in a post-fight interview in the Octagon.