Cory Sandhagen unimpressed with Marlon Vera’s ‘unreliable’ fighting style: “He doesn’t really do much.”

Former UFC title challenger Cory Sandhagen is not convinced about his upcoming opponent, Marlon Vera.

February 18 will mark the date of yet another high-level bantamweight clash, when the No.4 and No.5 ranked contenders square off over five rounds.

Vera is riding an impressive four-fight winning streak which includes brutal stoppage victories over Dominick Cruz and Frankie Edgar.

Although 2-1 in his last three, Sandhagen is coming off an impressive win over Yadong Song and his losses came by way of former champion Petr Yan and a razor-close decision to T.J. Dillashaw.

Cory Sandhagen speaks on Marlon Vera

Talking to MMAJunkie, Sandhagen would discuss the matchup, only really being complimentary to Vera’s pacing.

“I think Marlon will be able to go five rounds pretty good, he’s shown that in the past,” Sandhagen said. “I think his style is pretty conservative, he does a good job of setting a pace for five rounds that is a smart pace.”

“He doesn’t really do much, so maybe the guys lose interest and focus and that’s when he catches them,” joked Sandhagen. I think Marlon, he definitely starts pretty slow, but I think that has to do with a lot of what I was saying before. I don’t really think ‘Chito’ is a super athletic guy, especially when compared to a lot of other people in the division.”

When questioned about Vera’s recent run, Sandhagen admitted that he was not particularly impressed, questioning Vera’s fighting style.

“Not really honestly [impressed with Vera]”, Sandhagen began. “I think that the way he’s been winning is not a reliable way to win. When I think about some of the best fighters in the world or what I foresee me trying to become, which is the best fighter in the world, it doesn’t involve a lot of unreliable winning.”

Who do you think will win, Cory Sandhagen or Marlon Vera?