Cory Sandhagen has fought plenty of big names in his UFC career, but one fighter eluded him.
The 33-year-old has fought the likes of UFC Hall of Famer Frankie Edgar, and former champions Aljamain Sterling, T.J. Dillashaw, and Petr Yan. However, the one name that got away from Sandhagen is Dominick Cruz, who hung up his gloves in February.
Sandhagen (17-5 MMA, 10-4 UFC) called out Cruz (24-4 MMA, 7-3 UFC) on multiple occasions throughout his UFC career, but the fight never materialized.
“There was always kind of like, ‘Hey, we’re going to try to do you and Cruz, we’re going to try to do you and Cruz,'” Sandhagen said during Wednesday’s UFC on ESPN 67 media day. “And yeah, it never happened. It sucks that it never happened. It’s always one that I really wanted to have. I mean, I would have loved to have that fight. I really looked up to Cruz growing up. Even when I watched my old fights, I’m like, ‘Damn, I look like Dominick Cruz.’ I’ve changed a lot since then, but I always looked up to that guy.”
Sandhagen takes on Deiveson Figueiredo (24-4-1 MMA, 13-4-1 UFC) in a pivotal bantamweight clash which headlines Saturday’s UFC on ESPN 67 (ESPN2, ESPN+) at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa.
