The real bantamweight strap might not be on the line at UFC 267, but Cory Sandhagen is treating his interim title bout against Petr Yan as the real deal.
Aljamain Sterling is the current bantamweight champion but Sandhagen believes ‘everyone sees Yan as the champ’ because ‘No Mercy’ was beating ‘Funk Master’ until the Russian was disqualified for landing an illegal knee in the fourth round.
The controversial result saw Sterling become the first fighter to win a UFC world title via DQ.
“In this circumstance I think it might. I think everyone sees Yan as the champ of the division and the best in the division,” Sandhagen, who is looking to rebound from his split decision loss to T.