Marlon Vera blasts Cory Sandhagen for turning down UFC main event slot: “Why you f*cking call me out?”

By Josh Evanoff - October 24, 2022

UFC bantamweight contender Marlon Vera isn’t happy with Cory Sandhagen.

Cory Sandhagen, Marlon Vera, UFC

‘Chito’ has been out of action since his headlining role against Dominick Cruz in August. In that outing, Vera scored a stellar fourth-round knockout to move his winning streak to four. He’d previously scored victories over Rob Font, Frankie Edgar, and Davey Grant.

Currently, the streaking contender doesn’t have a return fight set. However, it’s not for a lack of trying, as Vera revealed on The MMA Hour. He was recently approached to headline a UFC Fight Night on November 5th, and he accepted.

However, plans of a return were dashed when his proposed opponent, Cory Sandhagen, declined the fight. ‘The Sandman’ called out Vera following his latest win over Song Yadong in September.

During the interview, Marlon Vera put the Colorado native on blast for declining the fight. The Ecuadorian asked why Sandhagen would ask for a fight with him if he was just doing to decline when the fight was proposed.

Marlon Vera, Dominick Cruz

Image Credit: @UFC/Twitter

“Cory [Sandhagen] has been calling me out, and then they offer for us to fight November 5th because something happened in that main event,” stated Vera on The MMA Hour. “He didn’t accept the fight. So why you f*cking call me out Cory Sandhagen? Then you don’t have time to make weight or get ready. Don’t call another man out and then don’t be able to dance.”

He continued, “Those are facts. I was doing commentary and my manager bumped my shoulder and he told me the offer, and it was a sexy offer, cause of the short notice. I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m ready, let’s go’, that’s clearly number one contender [matchup]. Then, my guy Cory, I don’t know… Just don’t f*cking call me out if you’re not going to take it.”

While the bantamweight clash didn’t come together, the UFC announced last weekend the new main event for November 5th. Ranked strawweights Marina Rodriguez and Amanda Lemos will get the chance to make their case for a title shot across five rounds.

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