A pair of top bantamweights are being eyed for the UFC San Diego card in May. A bout between Cory Sandhagen and Aljamain Sterling is in the works for the Fight Night card, TSN has reported.
The San Diego card is anticipated to take place on May 16 at the Pechanga Arena. While nothing has been officially announced, Dan Hooker and Dustin Poirier had been expected to headline. Of course, the coronavirus pandemic could change those plans. Or postpone the card entirely.
Sandhagen (12-1) has been on a tear since joining the UFC in 2018. Scratch that. Sandhagen has been on a tear since before the UFC, winning a pair of fights in LFA before making his octagon debut against Austin Arnett. He’s picked up wins over John Lineker and Raphael Assuncao in his last two outings. Overall, he sits on a seven-fight win streak.
Aljamain Sterling (18-3) is currently on a four-fight win streak, with victories over Cody Stamann, Jimmie Rivera, and Pedro Munhoz.
Interestingly enough, Cory Sandhagen had been linked to a fight with Dominick Cruz. However, that fight appears to have fallen by the wayside. Sandhagen told TSN previously that while initially interested, Cruz had cooled on the idea of fighting at the San Diego event. “Cruz asked to also be on that San Diego card and then changed his mind and didn’t want to fight on the card. You can interpret that however you want, but that’s the information that I got,” he told the outlet.
Currently reported for UFC San Diego are the following bouts:
Ariane Lipski vs. Luana Carolina
Punahele Soriano vs. Anthony Hernandez
Cortney Casey vs. Lara Procopio
Alex Perez vs. Kai Kara-France
Jared Gordon vs. Matt Sayles
Update, 10AM ET: Sterling has disputed reports that he has agreed to the fight.
I don’t even have access to my gym anymore. It’s been a complete ban for everyone and you guys think I’m taking a fight? Yea, ok.
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) March 24, 2020
However, in a separate tweet, he admits that there have been talks about several opponents. “We’ve spoken about a few different opponents. As far as I know there is no fight announcement. Especially with all this chaos happening.”
We’ve spoken about a few different opponents. As far as I know there is no fight announcement. Especially with all this chaos happening
— Aljamain Sterling (@funkmasterMMA) March 24, 2020
