Las Vegas — Bantamweight contender Mario Bautista earned his revenge on Saturday, with a unanimous decision victory over Cory Sandhagen that saw him avenge a loss in the pair’s first meeting in 2019.
“Getting that rematch win, just something I’ve manifested for years — that’s wild,” Bautista (18-3) exclaimed after the fight at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, speaking with media outlets including Cageside Press. “That’s wild to me bro.”
Given the pair’s history — Bautista lost that first fight on short notice, in his promotional debut — it’s one he wanted back. “It did mean something personal to me. That’s the only one [loss] that’s kind of like itched at me a little bit. I like to be prepared for fights, and that’s not how I imagined my debut to go. But it just so happened to be in such a big fight, for a top spot. Getting a win over him, chasing him down, it’s just crazy how it all worked out.”
Mario Bautista didn’t have any callouts to make on Saturday. Rather, he’s hoping that with the win over an ex-title challenger, he’ll be closer to gold himself. “Hopefully I can fight for the belt, or the number one contender at the very least, and we’ll see by maybe the end of this year, early next year,” he suggested. “We’ll see how things get shaken up.”
It feels, however, as if the #7-ranked Bautista has been used as a gatekeeper of sorts, not getting the opportunities that those who have fought him might have. It’s a situation Bautista is willing to embrace, if that is in fact that case.
“My whole life, things have always been the hard way, the hard route. I’m willing to do that. I’ll fly under the radar, I’ll be the dark horse. 10-1 in my last [11] fights. We’ll see. Maybe it’s up to me to make some changes, get a little bit more popular somehow, get on Instagram. Whatever I need to do. In the meantime, I’m just going to keep winning. That’s all I can do.”
Watch the full UFC 329 post-fight press conference with Mario Bautista above.
