Outlook: Not many people scoffed at Sandhagen’s interim title shot despite coming off a loss to Dillashaw in the summer. Many felt he did enough against the former champ to get the judges’ nod, so the interim shot wasn’t really out of pocket. He showed his quality in the first round against Yan, earning the nod from each judge for the first frame, but he wasn’t able to sustain the output and effectiveness for all 25 minutes. Because of his high-profile finishes of Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar, one can forget Sandhagen only came onto the scene in January 2018. In the last year, he has fought the cream of the crop with some mixed results, but he hasn’t ever looked out of his depth, especially after suffering a submission loss to Sterling. That fight prompted some mental shifts in his approach, and Sandhagen has looked like a title contender since. Where he goes from here depends on a few results, namely in the Aldo-Font matchup, but Sandhagen remains right in the thick of things.
4) Rob Font
(19-4, 8 KOs, 4 Submissions)
Last Fight: Unanimous Decision Win vs Cody Garbrandt (5/22/2021)
Next fight: vs Jose Aldo (12/4/2021)
