Mario Bautista compromised Cory Sandhagen’s lead leg with a submission attempt tonight at UFC 329 and went on to win by unanimous decision.
Round One
Bautista starts with an immediate kick. Inside leg kick from Sandhagen. Body kick from Bautista is almost caught.
Push kick from Sandhagen. Left hand for Sandhagen has Bautista backing up behind his guard. Head kick attempt from Sandhagen now.
Bautista clinches up and looks for the takedown. Sandhagen does a good job keeping upright there and he walks his opponent over to the cage.
The clinch eventually works them back to the center of the Octagon and then they separate.
Inside leg kick from Sandhagen. Both men land punches in a quick exchange. Sandhagen steps in and rips to the body.
Inside leg kick for Bautista. Body kick for Sandhagen. Left hand for him. Calf kick from Bautista.
Grazing left hook from Bautista. He lands a left hand. Right and left hooks for Bautista as he starts to dial in his range.
Long jab from Sandhagen. Sandhagen threatens a takedown after Bautista was off-balance for a moment, but it doesn’t work out. Bautista trying for one of his own that doesn’t land either.
Soon after Bautista shoots in smoother and lands a nice takedown. Late in the round Bautista goes for a leg lock. He has Sandhagen’s leg extended, but he manages to hang on in there until the end of the round. Sandhagen has to limp back to his corner though.
Round Two
Unfortunately for Sandahagen the minute break wasn’t enough to get his back up and running properly as he looks a bit unsteady on it as he moves forward at the start of the second round.
Baustista is now working leg kicks in with punches. Sandhagen doing his best to fight on regardless, and at least has some stability on that lead limb.
Bautista’s volume has dropped a bit which is good news for Sandhagen. Sandhagen lands a jab.
Sandhagen clinches and lands a few punches. Knee to the body from Bautista.
Left hand gets through for Bautista. He goes for a single-leg, grabbing the injured leg, but Sandhagen fends the attempt off.
In close Bautista goes for a knee to the body and Sandhagen retaliates with an elbow strike.
Bautista is bleeding from a cut near his right eye now. Sandhagen shakes off a takedown and clinches against the cage.
Back to striking range. Bautista shoots in on a takedown and Sandhagen does well to keep his balance there and stay upright.
Low kick from Bautista. Sandhagen responds with a couple of punches before the horn.
Round Three
Quick one-two for Bautista. Now a leg kick. Sandhagen looking a bit lighter on his feet now.
Suddenly Bautista catches Sandhagen with a good punch that rocks him. He goes to the mat with Bautista all over him firing off ground-and-pound. Sandhagen survives though and is able to gradually work back to his feet.
Bautista soon has him back down though. Sanhagen stands a second time with Bautista still clinched up. Sandhagen able to back away.
A couple of punches from Sandhagen. Left hand for Bautista. Another left for him then into a takedown and drags his opponent down. Sandhagen stands, but is pulled down again immediately.
Sandhagen up again, then back down with two minutes remaining. It’s rinse and repeat as the same sequence happens again. And again.
Sandhagen gets to his knees and stands while pressing Bautista into the cage. Sandhagen picks him up and puts him down, but he too pops right back up.
They separate now. Final 10 seconds. Elbow for Sandhagen. He lands another, but Bautista clinches and then is able to take him down once final time.
Decision
A competitive fight then, with both fighters having there moments, but Bautista damaging Sandhagen’s lead leg with a submission attempt late in the 1st round clearly had a big impact on the fight from that point forward. Sandhagen did well to get back into the fight, but Bautista did well in the third round to ensure he emerges with a unanimous decision victory (29-28 x3).
