UFC San Antonio 2023 Results and Recap: Cory Sandhagen earns split decision over Marlon Vera

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San Antonio, March 26: Cory Sandhagen proved a nightmare for Marlon Vera in the main event of UFC San Antonio 2023: Vera vs. Sandhagen at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas on Saturday (March 25).

It was a thrilling night of fights for the audience in Texas, whose energy compounded the tremendous performances from the whole card, that also saw a former champ Holly Holm prove she's not just a champion boxer by showcasing her impressive grappling skills.

The sold out venue witnessed three of ten fights end in stoppages as seven fights including the headliner went the distance. Two of the three finishes were submission wins, while one was a TKO on the preliminary card.

The flyweight bout on the preliminary card between CJ Vegara and Daniel Lacerda was awarded the fight of the night, while Nate Landwehr and Daniel Pineda, who secured submission wins in the preliminary card, also pocketed an extra USD50K as performance bonuses.

In the main event of UFC San Antonio 2023, the number 5 bantamweight contender Sandhagen used all five rounds to punch and swarm No. 4 ranked Vera en-route to a thrilling victory.

Throughout the fight, Vera had trouble finding his tempo, and Sandhagen took advantage of it with combinations and takedowns with the judges giving the split decision verdict in favour of Sandhagen.

After the win, Sandhagen said, "I'm super grateful. It was a blast fighting in front of a crowd again. I'm sorry it wasn't a KO like you were expecting, but the dude's hard to hit. That's how you beat Chito; Chito's a good fighter. [Calling out] Merab, you're hungry, I've got something for you to eat... and it doesn't taste good!"

In the co-main event, No. 3 ranked Holly Holm took on No. 6 Yana Santos and the boxing champ showed her acumen in grappling. Santos made it a fast-paced and fun fight, but Holm's control throughout three rounds earned her the unanimous decision on the scorecards.

Following the win, Holm said, "You never know, I'm always trying to come up with something new. I'm happy to be back! I want to be able to adapt wherever the fight goes. I wanted to strike more, but she was holding so tight, so I went to wrestling. [To return to champion] I've got to keep working hard."

UFC San Antonio 2023 Results

Main Card

1. Bantamweight Bout: Cory Sandhagen (50-45, 49-46) defeated Marlon Vera (48-47) by split decision

2. Women's Bantamweight Bout: Holly Holm defeated Yana Santos by unanimous decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27)

3. Featherweight bout: Nate Landwehr defeated Austin Lingo by submission (rear-naked choke) at 4:11 of Round 2

4. Women's Flyweight Bout: Maycee Barber (29-28, 30-27) defeated Andrea Lee (29-28) by split decision

5. Middleweight Bout: Albert Duraev (29-28, 29-28) defeated Chidi Njokuani (29-28) by split decision

6. Featherweight Bout: Daniel Pineda defeated Tucker Lutz by submission (guillotine choke) at 2:50 of Round 2

Preliminary Card

1. Featherweight Bout: Lucas Alexander defeated Steven Peterson by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

2. Welterweight Bout: Trevin Giles (29-28, 29-28) defeated Preston Parsons by split decision (29-28)

3. Flyweight Bout: CJ Vergara defeated Daniel Lacerda by TKO (strikes) at 4:04 of Round 2

4. Flyweight Bout: Victor Altamirano defeated Vinicius Salvador by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)