UFC Vegas 32 Recap: TJ Dillashaw makes victorious return

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship champion TJ Dillashaw earned a split-decision victory over Cory Sandhagen in a bantamweight matchup at UFC Vegas 32 on Saturday night in Las Vegas at the UFC Apex arena.

UFC Vegas 32 recap: Dillashaw imppresses in return from two-year layoff

Dillashaw (18-4-0) had two takedowns of Sandhagen (14-3-0), who didn’t have any, in a tightly contested match. Dillashaw got a cut under his right eye, but despite a two-year layoff for a doping violation, he toughed it out and won.

Total strikes went to Sandhagen, 171-169, and Sandhagen also landed more significant strikes, 128-110. With 86% to Dillashaw’s head, whereas Dillashaw worked up and down, with 54% of his significant strikes to the head and 37% to the legs.

“I wasn’t worried about the naysayers,” Dillashaw said on ESPN immediately after the fight. “I knew I was going to get this victory. Very tough fight. To me, this was the title fight. Cory Sandhagen is legit. I’ve trained with him. I knew he was that good before he knew he was that good.”

Raulian Paiva (21-3-0) of Brazil won the co-main bantamweight event with a majority decision over Kyler Phillips (9-2-0). Paiva has a three-fight winning streak after starting his UFC career by losing his first two.

Down the card, Darren Elkins (27-9-0) scored a technical knockout of Darrick Minner (26-12-0) in a featherweight fight.

In women’s flyweight action, 23-year-old Maycee Barber moved to 9-2-0 and broke a two-match losing streak, with a split-decision win over 24-year-old Miranda Maverick (11-3-0) thanks to a third-round flurry that tilted the fight in her favor.

In another bantamweight bout, Adrian Yanez (14-3-0) dismantled Randy Costa (6-2-0) with a second-round technical knockout in a back and forth battle of top prospects.

UFC Vegas 32 bonus winners

• Fight of the Night: Raulian Paiva vs. Kyler Phillips
• Performance of the Night: Adrian Yanez
• Performance of the Night: Darren Elkins

–Field Level Media