Corey Sandhagen’s Victory Over Deiveson Figueiredo
Des Moines, Iowa – Corey Sandhagen, competing in the bantamweight division, secured a surprising victory over Deiveson Figueiredo on Saturday night.
In the first round of this highly anticipated UFC Fight Night event, Sandhagen dominated, taking Figueiredo down and landing significant strikes that kept his opponent off balance.
The match concluded at 4:08 in the second round.
With this win, Sandhagen (now 18-5 MMA) has called for a shot at the title later this year, emphasizing the importance of defeating someone like Figueiredo to solidify his standing. Figueiredo (24-5-1), on the other hand, will need to regroup after this setback.
“I want the winner,” Sandhagen expressed, indicating that he would be watching the UFC 316 main event featuring bantamweights Merab Dvalishvili and Sean O’Malley, set for June 7th in Newark, New Jersey.
Co-Main Event and Other Highlights
In the co-main event, Beau Nikkal, a former wrestling standout, faced his first loss in mixed martial arts, suffering a TKO in the second round against middleweight de Ridder (20-2), who executed a series of effective strikes.
Welterweight Daniel Rodriguez triumphed over Santiago Ponzinibbio with a third-round knockout, earning applause from the audience for his performance. Rodriguez (19-5) paid respect to Ponzinibbio (31-9) while expressing his intentions to stay active throughout the year.
Bantamweight Montel Jackson easily defeated Daniel Marcos, handing him his first loss in 18 fights, and marking Jackson’s sixth consecutive win as he maintained pressure in the latter rounds.
Another bantamweight bout saw Serhiy Sidey secure a unanimous decision victory over Cameron Smotherman with scores of 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28, after dominating in a wrestling-focused match.
Lightweight Mason Jones kicked off the main card by defeating Jeremy Stevens in a unanimous decision, amidst a chorus of booing from the crowd, controlling the bout with effective boxing and submission attempts.
This UFC event marked the organization’s return to Iowa for the first time since June 2000, when UFC 26 took place. The promotion is set to move on to UFC 315 on May 10th in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
