Mario Bautista was left impressed by Cory Sandhagen’s toughness after their clash at UFC 329, admitting he was surprised the former bantamweight title challenger was able to continue fighting through a significant leg injury.
Bautista earned a hard-fought decision victory over Sandhagen at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Saturday night, but came close to securing a finish during the bout when he locked in a Suloev stretch/kneebar submission.
Although Sandhagen managed to escape the hold and fight to the final bell, he later revealed the extent of the damage by sharing photos that showed severe bruising caused by a torn hamstring.
Speaking on The Ariel Helwani Show on Wednesday, Bautista praised Sandhagen’s resilience while acknowledging the difficult decision fighters face in those moments.
“Man, that's crazy that he was able to fight through all that,” Bautista said. “You know, kudos to him, it's kind of that thing: do you tap or do you not? Cory was not going to tap; he was going to go through all that. But at the end of the day, that's your choice.”
He added: “It's unfortunate. I don't want to do that to anyone. But at the end of the day, that's his choice, whether you tap or not.
“Or, you know, if you want to be ready to fight in a couple months afterwards, it seems like he's going to have to heal that up and wait a little bit.”
Bautista said he has long respected Sandhagen’s accomplishments inside the Octagon and believes his ability to continue competing despite the injury was remarkable.
“I've always had respect for him,” Bautista said. “He's climbed through the ranks. He's fought the champions. He's fought for the title. So I've always had respect for him. But yeah, to fight through that. That's pretty incredible.”
The victory marked Bautista’s 10th win in his last 11 appearances and further strengthened his position among the UFC bantamweight contenders.
Looking ahead, Bautista said he hopes to remain active and would welcome the opportunity to serve as the backup fighter for the rumored bantamweight title rematch between champion Merab Dvalishvili and former titleholder Petr Yan.
“Hopefully we can have talks about maybe being a backup for that,” Bautista said. “If that happens soon, I'm not too sure when that will happen. Maybe I could fight the loser of that.
“It's realistic for me to probably fight one more time before I even get a title shot. That'd be best case scenario for me.”
