In Sterling, he faces someone who has pined for the belt at least as long and at least as hungrily as he has. In a battle where assuredly no man will relent, his team has been preparing for the game of inches it will take to outlast the “Funk Master.”
“The biggest keys are going to be the footwork, which is what Cory is great at,” explains Madden. “I think something that’s interesting here that adds a little bit of a wrench is a 25-foot cage instead of the 30-foot cage. Cory has great cage-awareness, and he’s going to have to make sure he has that on full display Saturday. Another thing is that Sterling is used to being the taller, longer fighter in the majority of his fights, and now he’s facing someone who is taller than him. So we’re going to use that to our advantage as well.”
“I just want to showcase my style,” says Sandhagen. “I give a lot of thoughtfulness and I give a lot of love to my style. I’m not just taking orders by my coaches. This is a lot of my heart in the fighting that I do. That’s what I want to show the people. I think if enough people see it, they’ll get on board with it, because it is really exciting. It’s a fun style to watch. It’s kind of like my baby. My style is my baby, and I think I’ve done a really good job with it, and I want people to appreciate it.”
