Born: April 20, 1992 (Age: 30) in Aurora, Colorado
Division: Bantamweight
Height: 5’11”
Reach: 70”
Record: 14-4 (7-3 UFC)
Association:
Elevation Fight Team
Stage of Career: Prime
Summary: Sandhagen is a physical mismatch for almost anyone at
bantamweight due to his height and reach, but he is also a
ridiculously skilled mixed martial artist in terms of striking and
grappling. He is dangerous and dynamic with punches, kicks and
knees, all of which he can use to hurt or knock out opponents at
any time. Meanwhile, he not only utilizes his length well, but his
defense is quite good, making him a nightmare to exchange with on
the feet. However, there is little respite in the grappling
department, as his knees in the clinch are lethal and he offers
sound defensive wrestling and excellent Brazilian jiu-jitsu. If an
opponent does get Sandhagen down, he is one of the best in the
world at immediately exploding back to his feet. Despite likely
having to cut a great deal of weight to stay at 135 pounds, he has
stellar cardio and an iron chin, along with fast recuperative
powers. It has taken either a top striker, like
Petr Yan, or
an elite grappler, like
Aljamain
Sterling, to beat him, and he continues to show signs of
improvement.
STRIKING
• Stance: Constantly switches but mostly throws punches from
orthodox.
• Hand Speed: Average.
• Jab: Sold due to his technique, its straightness and his
ridiculous length, but it lacks speed and power.
• Cross: Accurate, sudden and technical, and while it can also be
aimed nicely at the body, it only possesses average speed and
power.
• Left Hook: Proficient, with proper rotation and arc, along with
some power. A plus that he goes to the body with it, too.
• Overhand Right: Does not throw one, which makes sense given his
advantages in height and reach.
• Uppercuts: Does not utilize them because he is almost always the
taller and longer fighter.
• Solitary Striker or Volume Puncher: Generally more of a one-shot
sniper, but he can open up with the right opponent or
situation.
• Favorite Combinations: The traditional one-two, which he throws
fluidly.
• Leg Kicks: Fast and sudden but lacking the power necessary to be
truly great.
• Body Kicks: Superb, highlighted by a powerful and technical front
kick he uses to tremendous effect.
• Head Kicks: He rarely uses them, but when he does, the results
can often be spectacular, as seen in his wheel kick finish of
Marlon
Moraes.
• Knees: Some of the best in the sport—a completely unexpected,
explosive, accurate and powerful blow he can throw at range.
• Chains Kicks to Punches: Does so with conviction.
Sandhagen’s striking presents a monstrous challenge to anyone he
faces, and only the superlative Yan has managed to solve it thus
far. His hands, legs and knees are all lethal weapons with which he
can punish an opponent, all while being out of return-fire range
due to his massive advantages in height and reach. His left hooks,
a dizzying array of kicks and devastating knees have resulted in a
number of finishes. He is also difficult to hit because of solid
defensive instincts and distance control. In addition, he uses
feints effectively and possesses sound footwork.
CLINCH
• Physical Strength: Passable.
• Technique: Textbook.
• Knees: A tremendous weapon that discourages all but the best
grapplers from clinching with him in the first place.
• Elbows: Rarely throws them.
• Defense Against Knees and Elbows: Sound enough that no opponent
has truly abused him with such strikes.
Sandhagen is difficult to take down in the clinch, though
Sterling showed it was certainly possible. However, if a quick
takedown fails to materialize, opponents would be wise to back away
before they get caught with one of the Colorado native’s hellacious
knees.
GRAPPLING
• Wrestling from a Shot: He generally only does so when hurt and
wants to buy time. He has not enjoyed much success against
elite-caliber opposition.
• Wrestling in the Clinch: Knows the fundamentals and can execute
trips against weaker grapplers.
• Takedown Defense: Features a gorgeous switch, though the best
wrestlers can get him down.
• Ability to Return to Feet: An all-time great in this area, with
instant explosions to his feet and some beautiful technique in
getting back up in virtually any scenario.
• Submissions: Capable of schooling anyone whose Brazilian
jiu-jitsu skills are not up to snuff in impressive fashion, as
shown with his beautiful armbar of
Mario
Bautista.
• Defense and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu from the Bottom: Excellent, in
general, and almost never finds himself down for long.
• Top Control: Difficult to say, as he does not pursue takedowns
against his current level of opposition.
• Ground-and-Pound: He can land hard shots and finish off opponents
he has already hurt on the feet.
Sandhagen is an astute grappler. He is difficult to take down,
fantastic at getting back up and flexes beautiful Brazilian
jiu-jitsu skills. Sterling, the absolute best grappler in the
entire division, managed to get a quick submission against him, but
Sandhagen has likely improved in the time that has passed since.
Virtually everyone else has failed to achieve much success at his
expense, including T.J.
Dillashaw. Offensively, he can dominate lacking grapplers and
put away compromised opponents with his ground-and-pound. He has
some offensive wrestling, too, but at his current elite level of
competition, he mostly just uses it to buy time when he gets
hurt.
INTANGIBLES
• Athleticism and General Physical Strength: Despite being so tall
and long for the weight class, he moves fluidly and fast enough,
and he has above-average strength when compared to other UFC
bantamweights.
• Cardio: Only slows down slightly in the later rounds of
exhausting battles against conditioning machines like Yan and
Dillashaw.
• Chin: Durable, as proven when he absorbed some monster shots from
the likes of Yan and
John
Lineker.
• Recuperative Powers: Stellar. He was hurt by Yan on more than one
occasion but managed to get back into the battle quickly.
• Intelligence: Consistently makes smart decisions, capitalizes on
opponents’ mistakes, buys himself time when in trouble and shows
considerable improvement from fight to fight.