UFC Fight Night 219: Andrade vs. Blanchfield is scheduled to take place in Las Vegas on February 19 at the popular UFC Apex Arena. The main card of the event will host bantamweights Marlon Vera and Cory Sandhagen. Ecuadorian UFC hopeful Marlon is quietly making his way towards the coveted title shot he has been dreaming of for the past few years. It is now that “Chito” has the best chance of making the final push, as he has been given the perfect opponent to do so – Cory Sandhagen, who previously fought for the interim lightweight belt. The fight is planned for 01:00 UK time.
Despite the close odds, Corey’s status in this clash has been slightly downplayed. No doubt Marlon is a very good fighter and has a good chance of a win, however, Sandhagen’s strengths in the standup are almost nothing to overpower him. Long-distance fighting is not what Cheeto is looking for, he needs to get close and unleash his arsenal of elbows, knees as well as double jabs, but Sandman has an answer for all of that.
“Chito” climbed to number four in the rankings, matching his visage, collecting bonuses for best fights and performances of the evening – six times he has been nominated for those awards. A base in Muay Thai didn’t stop Marlon from becoming a black belt in BJJ, and on the ground, this guy is really good. After competing on the TUF show for Latin American fighters, Vera made it to the UFC, where he has fought two dozen fights in nine years, but only got noticed now. Marlon is 30 years old, his winning streak consists of 4 fights, and the Ecuadorian suffered his last defeat in 2020 at the hands of Jose Aldo. However, victories over Davey Grant, Frankie Edgar, Rob Font and Dominick Cruz look solid, so after a string of career setbacks, it appears that Vera has found his rhythm.
The number five has been repeatedly nominated for Knockout of the Month, and Knockout of the Year awards, as well as bonuses from the UFC for crazy finishes and chiselled confrontations. Despite his high punching skill set, Corey has not forgotten to develop his skills on the ground, having reached the brown belt level in BJJ. The American started his career at 66 kg, where he became the SCL champion, but his best results have come at flyweight, having fought many top contenders. Corey is 30 years old and right now he is at the peak of his physical and technical ability. Failures against T.J. Dillashaw and Petr Yang have forced him to work on his defensive and attacking alignment, which was perfectly evident in an extreme performance against Song Yadong. Before that, Sandhagen practically wiped out Marlon Moraes and Frankie Edgar.
Age – 30;
Height – 1.73;
Weight – 61;
Reach – 1.79;
Stance – Orthodox;
Statistics – 20-7-1;
Wins – 8 Knockouts, 8 Submissions, 4 Decisions;
Losses – 0 Knockouts, 0 Submissions, 7 Decisions.
Age – 30;
Height – 1.80;
Weight – 61;
Reach – 1.77;
Stance – Orthodox;
Statistics – 15-4-0;
Wins – 7 Knockouts, 3 Submissions, 5 Decisions;
Losses – 0 Knockouts, 1 Submission, 3 Decisions.
Where will this fixture be played?
The event will take place at UFC Apex, Enterprise, Nevada, USA.
Which bookmaker has the best odds for this game?
We recommend checking out the odds for the UFC Fight Night 219: Andrade vs. Blanchfield: Marlon Vera vs Cory Sandhagen at 1xBet.